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THE 


EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


THEIR  EXTERNAL  OR  IIISTORICll  DIVISION: 


EXHIBITED    Uf 


A  COURSE  01"  Lligp^tJRES, 


BY  CHARLES  PETTIT  M'lLVAINE,  D.  D. 

BISHOP   OF  THE   PRpTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH   IN  THE  STATE   OP 
OHIO. 


Sint  castsB  delicisB  meao  scriptursB  tus ;  nee  fallar  in  eis,  nee  fallam  ex  eis. 
Attoubtink. 


NINTH  EDITION. 

BEYISED  AND  IMPROVED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


PUBLISHED   BY   THE 
AMERICAN   TRACT    SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


/^d 


Entered  by  the  author,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S32.  in 
the  Clerk's  OfRce  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 

Ri^lit  of  publishing  transferred  to  the  Amerionn  Tract  SoriPty. 


CONTENTS. 


v; 


LECTURE   I. 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS, 21 

The  difficulty  of  presenting  the  evidences  of  Christianity  arises,  not 
from  any  lack  of  arguments,  but  from  the  difficulty  of  a  just  selec- 
tion and  arrangement  where  materials  are  so  abundant,      .     .     22 

I.  The.  high  importance  of  the  investigation  proposed,      ....     23 
The  question  is,  Is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  exhibited  in  the  New 

Testament^  a  revelation  from  God,  and  consequently  possessed  of  a 

sovereign  right  to  universal  faith  and  obedience  ? 24 

We  must  have  the  religion  of  Christ  or  none, 24 

Deism,  the  only  imaginable  substitute,  shown  to  offer  no  refuge,      25 

The  investigation  urged  on  the  experimentally  convinced  Christian,  as 

a  matter  of  spiritual  pleasure  and  improvement,  and  as  a  matter 

of  duty  to  the  cause  of  truth,  and  to  the  good  of  his  neighbor,      34 

The  same  urged  on  the  merely  nominal  Christian,  as  necessary  to  a 

rational  and  steadfast  belief  of  what  he  professes  not  to  doubt,  and 

for  a  deeper  impression  of  the  soleimiity  of  its  truth,       .     .     -     36 

The  investigation  derives   additional  importance  from   the  peculiar 

character  of  the  present  times,  as  those  of  licentiousness,  under  the 

boast  of  freedom,  in  such  inquiries, 38 

It  derives,  also,  advantage  from  the  present  times,  as  distinguished  for 
scientific  research  and  discovery, 43 

II.  The  importance  of  strict  attention  to  the  spirit  in  which  this  investi- 
gation is  conducted, 46 

The  opposition  between  the  precepts  of  Christianity  and  the  natural 
dispositions  of  man  makes  the  question  one  of  feeling  as  well  as . 
evidence,  and  has  a  tendency  to  magnify  objections,  and  to  depre- 
ciate the  contrary, 46 

The  pride  of  human  reason  is  often  deeply  offended  at  the  claims  of 
Christianity, 49 

It  is  true  of  Christianity,  as  of  many  other  very  important  matters  of 
tmtk.  that  objections  are  more  easily  irt vented- than  answered,     52 


4  CONTENTS. 

Phenomena  which  these  considerations  account  for,      ....     53 

Docility  of  mind, 53 

A  deep  seriousness  of  purpose, 54 

And  prayer,   earnestly  recommended  as    necessary  to  this  investi- 
gation,        54 


LECTURE  II. 

AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT, 56 

The  study  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity  may  be  brief  or  extended, 
according  as  the  object  is  simply  conviction ;  or,  in  addition  to  that, 
the  pleasure  of  collecting  all  the  various  lights  which  may  be  con- 
centrated on  this  subject. 

The  evidences  are  of  two  general  classes,  namely,  external^  or  histoV' 
ical,  and  internal^ ', •   .     57 

A  brief  account  of  what  each  head  includes, 57 

The  present  course  of  lectures  confined  to  the  external. 

The  complete  treatment  of  this  division  would  begin  with  the  neceS' 
sity  of  a  divine  revelation^  as  the  history  of  mankind  exhibits  it,     58 

We  begin  with  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament,       .     59 

Difference  between  authenticity  and  credibility,  as  used  in  these  lec- 
tures,     59 

The  question  is,  How  does  it  appear  that  the  several  parts  of  the  New 
Testament  were  written  by  the  men  to  whom  they  are  ascribed,  the 
original  disciples  of  Christ,  and  are  therefore  authentic  ?      .     .     61 

The  same  course  pursued  as  in  ascertaining  the  authenticity  of  any 
other  book, 61 

A  general  sketch  of  the  argument, 62 

The  books  of  the  New  Testament  are  quoted,  or  alluded  to,  by  a  series 
of  writers,  who  may  be  followed  up  in  unbroken  succession  from  the 
present  age  to  that  of  the  apostles, 64 

This  shown  by  reference  to  catalogues,  etc.,  from  the  fourth  century 
to  the  age  of  the  apostles, 65-75 

Particulars  included  in  the  above  which  require  a  more  special  notice. 

1.  The  books  of  the  New  Testament,  when  quoted  or  alluded  to,  are 
treated  with  supreme  regard,  as  possessing  a  singular  authority, 
and  as  conclusive  in  questions  of  religion, 75 

2.  They  were  united  at  a  very  early  period  in  a  distinct  volume,  .     76 

3.  They  were  at  a  very  early  period  publicly  read  and  expounded  in 
the  churches, 77 

4.  Commentaries  were  written  on  them,  harmonies  constructed, 
copies  diligently  compared,  and  translations  made  into  different 
languages, 78 


CONTENTS.  6 

5.  The  agreement  of  the  ancient  churches  as  to  what  were  the 
authentic  books  of  the  New  Testament  was  complete,    ...     79 

6.  There  was  as  entire  an  agreement  among  the  heretics  of  the  earliest 
centuries  as  among  the  orthodox, 80 

7.  These  several  heads  of  evidence  cannot  be  pretended  to  be  in 
favor  of  any  apocryphal  scriptures, 81 

Six  evidences  of  spuriousncss^  all  of  which  are  found  in  the  apocryphal 
scriptures,  none  of  them  in  the  New  Testament, 84 

Confirmation  given  by  the  existence  of  apocryphal  writings  to  the 
claims  of  the  New  Testament, 85 

Lesson  to  the  believer  from  what  has  been  exhibited,    ....     87 

LECTURE    III. 

AUTHENTICITY  AND  INTEORITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT,     89 

From  the  tenor  of  the  preceding  lecture,  it  is  evident  that  the  canon 
of  the  New  Testament  was  not  made  toithout  the  most  intelligent  and 
careful  investigation, 90 

This  further  appears  from  the  numerous  catalogues  that  have  corao 
down  to  us, 91 

From  the  pains  taken  to  procure  information,  and  the  decisive  censure 
with  which  an  attempt  to  pass  a  spurious  book  was  visited,    .     91 

The  gradual  steps  by  which  the  canon  was  completed  afforded  the 
best  opportunity  for  the  settlement  of  the  claim  of  any  book  to 
authenticity, 92 

}5ome  remarks  concerning  the  formation  of  the  canon  of  the  New 
Testament, 93 

The  canonical  authority  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  of  James,  the 
second  of  Peter,  the  second  and  third  of  John,  of  Jude,  and  of  the 
book  of  Revelation, 98-105 

TTie  testimony  of  the  adversaries  of  Christianity, 105 

The  preceding  evidence  confirmed  by  a  reference  to 

77ie  language  and  style  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 

1.  They  are  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  local  and  other  circum- 
stances of  the  reputed  writers,  110 

2.  They  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  known  characters  of  the 
reputed  \NTiters, 115 

The  result  is,  that  if  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  be  not  authen- 
tic, nothing  less  than  a  miracle  can  account  for  their  early  and  uni- 
versal currency, 116 

On  the  INTEGRITY  of  these  books,  that  they  have  undergone  no  mate- 
rial alteration,  we  reason, 

1.  From  the  perfect  impossibility  of  any  material  alteration,       .  123 

2    From  the  agreement  among  the  existing  manuscript^,       .     .125 


6  CONTENTS. 

3.  From  the  agreement  of  the  text  with  the  numerous  quotations  in 
the  works  of  early  Christian  writers,  and  with  ancient  transla- 
tions,     127 

LECTURE   IV. 

CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPEL  HISTORY, 129 

A  book  may  be  authentic  and  not  credible, 129 

Aim  of  this  lecture  to  prove  that  what  the  gospel  history  relates  as 
matter  of  fact  is  worthy  of  reliance  as  such,  independently  of  all 
inferences  or  doctrines  connected  therewith, 130 

The  credibility  of  the  gospel  history  ascertained  precisely  like  that  of 
any  other  history, 130 

The  peculiarity  of  the  present  case  such  as  that,  having  proved  the 
authenticity  of  the  books  containing  the  gospel  history,  we  have 
proved  the  erf rfiMiVy  of  the  history, 130 

But  a  broader  plan  of  argument  is  taken : 

A  general  view  of  the  proof  of  credibility.  The  two  points  to  bo 
made  out  in  relation  to  any  historical  document  are  competent 
knowledge  and  trustworthy  honesty  in  the  writer, 134 

I.  The  writers  of  the  gospel  history  had  opportunities  of  possessing 
adequate  knowledge  as  to  those  matters  of  fact  which  they  re- 
lated,      138 

II.  There  is  abu/ndant  evidence  that  they  were  too  honest  to  relate  any 
thing  but  truth, 139 

1.  The  narratives  are  in  a  high  degree  circumstantial,        .     .     .139 

2.  The  authors  manifest  no  consciousness  of  narrating  any  thing 
about  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  was  the  smallest  doubt,   142 

3.  There  is  a  minute  accuracy  in  all  the  allusions  to  the  manners, 
customs,  opinions,  political  events,  etc.,  of  the  times,     .     .     .  144 

4.  The  argument  greatly  strengthened  by  considering  the  New 
Testament  as  a  collection  of  writings  by  eight  perfectly  independent 
authors, 146 

The  consideration  that  the  writers  of  the  gospels  were  disciples  and 
ministers  of  Christ  should  be  regarded  as  strengthening  their  testi- 
mony, .     .• 147 

Absurd  consequences  of  supposing  them  not  to  have  been  sincere  in 
their  statements, 152 

5.  The  gospel  history  has  all  the  testimony  that  could  possibly  have 
been  expected,  in  the  nature  of  things,  from  the  enemies  of  Chris- 
tianity,       l^S 

It  was  utterly  impossible  that  the  gospel  history  should  have  gained 
such  currency  as  it  had  in  the  apostles*  time,  had  it  not  been 
true, 157 


CONTENTS.  7 

LECTURE   V. 

MIRACLES, 164 

Authenticity  of  the  books,  and  credibility  of  the  history  contained 
therein,  being  ascertained,  we  are  prepared  to  open  the  contents  of 
the  New  Testament.  The  first  thing  we  perceive  is,  that  it  pro- 
fesses to  teach  a  divinely  revealed  religion^  and  the  question  is, 

What,  are  the  evidences  that  the  religion  contained  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  a  divine  revelation  ?  164 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  constantly  appealed  to  miracles  for  his  creden- 
tials as  an  ambassador  from  God, 165 

The  sufficiency  of  miracles  as  credentials,  when  well  attested,  acknow- 
ledged by  infidels, 166 

Reasons  for  not  proceeding  directly  to  the  proof  of  such  creden- 
tials,      166 

The  present  lecture  devoted  to  certain  preliminary  considerations. 

1.  There  is  nothing  unreasonable  or  improbable  in  the  idea  of  a  miracle 
being  wrought  in  proof  of  a  divine  revelation^ 167 

2.  If  miracles  were  vrrought  in  attestation  of  the  mission  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  they  can  be  rendered  credible  to  us  by  no  other  evidence 
than  that  of  testimony^ 170 

3.  Miracles  are  capable  of  being  proved  by  testimony,      .     .     .     .172 
Hume's  argument  against  miracles,  in  proof  of  a  divine  revelation, 

stated  and  answered, 173 

4.  The  testimony  in  proof  of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  hoe  not  dimin- 
ished in  force  by  the  increase  of  age,    189 

5.  In  being  called  to  examine  the  credibility  of  these  miracles  by  the 
evidence  of  testimony,  we  are  more  favorably  situated  than  if  we  had 
been  enabled  to  subject  them  to  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  .     .     .   192 

The  whole  truth  exhibited  in  this  lecture  calls  us  to  adore  the  wisdom 
of  God, 197 

LECTURE   VI. 

MIRACLES— Cb;t<*7»we<i, 200 

Have  we  satisfactory  evidence  that  genuine  miracles  were  wrought 
by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  ? 200 

This  question  is  settled  by  the  proof  of  credibility. 

Another  line  of  argument  adopted. 

The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  which,  in  its  first  introduc- 
tion, appealed  to  miracles  for  evidence  of  the  divine  authority  of  its 
teachers, 202 

1.  Supposing  the  works  related  of  Christ  to  have  actually  occurred, 
many  of  them  must  have  been  genuine  miracles, 205 


8  CONTENTS. 

2.  The  alleged  miracles  of  Christ  were  such  as  admitted  at  once  of 
the  test  of  the  senses, 206 

3.  They  were  performed  in  the  most  public  manner,      ....  207 

4.  They  were  very  numerous  and  of  great  variety, 208 

5.  The  success  was  in  every  instance  instantaneous  and  complete,  210 

6.  There  is  no  evidence  of  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  Christ  or  his 
apostles  to  perform  a  miracle,  in  which  they  were  accused  of  a 
failure, 210 

7.  The  length  of  time  during  which  they  professed  to  perform  mirac- 
ulous works, 212 

8.  Their  works  underwent  the  most  rigid  examination  from  those  who 
had  every  opportunity  of  ascertaining  their  character,     .     .     .  213 

9.  Their  adversaries  had  every  advantage  in  the  fact  that  these 
miracles  were  published  and  appealed  to  immediately  after,  and  in 
the  places  where  they  occurred, 214 

10.  These  arguments  derive  important  aid  from  a  consideration  of 
the  agents  whose  works  were  subjected  to  such  scrutiny,    .     .  217 

11.  None  of  those  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  what  Jesus  or  his  apos- 
tles wrought,  were  ever  induced  to  confess  themselves  deceived,  or 
that  they  had  ever  seen  any  thing  but  truth  in  those  miraculous 
gifts  by  which  they  had  been  persuaded  to  embrace  the  gospel,  217 

12.  The  character  of  the  miracles  themselves, 220 

13.  Evidence  from  the  primitive  adversaries  of  Christianity,  .     .  222 

14.  Testimony  of  all  who  were  converted  to  Christianity.  Such 
testimony  shown  to  be  stronger  than  that  of  adversaries,    .     .  227 

The  absurdities  which  must  be  believed  by  those  who  maintain  that 
the  miracles  were  fictions,  and  consequently,  that  their  authors 
were  deceivers, 230 

LECTURE    VII. 

PROPHECY, 237 

In  having  proved  the  genuineness  of  the  miracles  attesting  the  divine 
mission  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  we  have  made  out  a  complete 
proof  of  the  divine  authority  of  Christianity.  But  our  object  being, 
not  only  to  prove  this,  but  to  show  by  how  many  ways  it  may  be 
proved,  we  take  up  a  new  line  of  argument  derived  from  proph- 
ecy,   237 

What  a  prophecy  is.  The  application  of  fulfilled  prophecy  to  the 
proof  of  a  divine  revelation, 238 

Prophecy  furnishes  an  argument  which,  in  point  of  force,  is  continu- 
ally growing, 240 

In  much  of  the  argument  from  prophecy,  the  evidence  is  before  our 
eyes,  addressed  to  our  senses, 242 


CONTENTS.  9 

The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  which,  on  its  first  introduc- 
tion, appealed  to  prophecy  for  the  credentials  of  its  founder,    .  244 

The  weight  of  the  evidence  from  prophecy,  and  the  moral  grandeur 
with  which  it  appears  in  evidence  of  Christianity,  can  be  appreci- 
ated only  by  a  full  view  of  the  inaraense  scheme  and  extent  of  the 
prophecies  in  the  Bible, 248 

The  fulfilment  of  a  selection  of  miscellaneous  prophecies  exhibited. 
Prophecies  concerning  Zedekiah,  the  destruction,  of  Babylon,  and 
of  Tyre ;  concerning  Egypt ;  concerning  the  coimtry  and  cities  of 
Judea ;  concerning  the  Jews ;  concerning  the  empires  of  Chaldea, 
Persia,  Macedon,  and  Rome,  in  Daniel, 254-267 

The  fulfilment  of  prophecies  concerning  Christ, 267 

1.  Those  which  relate  to  the  time  and  circumstances  of  his  ad- 
vent,      268 

2.  Those  which  speak  of  his  life,  sufferings,  death,  resurrection,  and 
increase  of  his  kingdom, 268 

The  idea  of  chance^  as  explaining  the  coincidences  mentioned,    .  273 
Three  conclusions  from  the  prophetic  argument,  as  exhibited,     .  276 


LECTURE   VIII. 

VROVKECY—Contt7i7i€d, 277 

Christ  was  the  author,  as  well  as  the  subject,  of  prophecies. 

By  prophecy,  as  well  as  miracles,  he  proved  his  divine  mission. 
None  of  his  prophecies  more  impressive  than  those  conceming  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  These  selected  for  present  considera- 
tion,  278 

It  is  well  ascertained  that  these  were  published  before  the  event,  278 

1 .  The  prediction  of  the  appearing  of  false  Christs,  deceiving  many, 
by  signs  and  wonders,  prior  to  the  main  event, 281 

2.  Of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  preceding  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,     283 

3.  Of  famines,  pestilences,  and  earthquakes,  in  divers  places,      .  284 

4.  Of  fearful  signs  from  heaven, 285 

5.  Of  the  persecution  of  Christians  as  one  of  the  signs  of  approaching 
desolations, 287 

6.  A  consequent  declension  of  religion  among  the  professed  disciples 
of  Christ, 289 

7.  The  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  before 
the  event  should  come, 289 

8.  Jerusalem  compassed  with  armies,  and  the  escape  of  the  Chris- 
tians,    . 291 

9.  The  method  of  the  siege, .295 

10.  The  unparalleled  tribulation,        297 

1* 


10  CONTENTS. 

11.  The  coiuplote  desstiuctioa  of  the  city  and  temple,     .     .     .     .301 

12.  The  captivity  of  the  Jews  in  all  nations, 30G 

Jerusalem  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles, 307 

Attempt  of  Julian  to  rebuild  the  temple, 309 

Brief  view  of  the  condition  of  Jerusalem  to  the  present  time,      .  312 

13.  The  time  between  the  prophecy  and  its  fulfilment,      .     .     .  315 
Bicflections  on  the  preceding  particulars, 315 


LECTURE   IX. 

THE  PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY, 319 

The  proof  of  Christianity  as  a  divine  revelation  has  already  been  twice 
finished :  first,  by  the  argument  from  miracles ;  secondly,  by  that 
firom  prophecy,    .     .  ' 319 

A  third  independent  proof  is  now  to  be  undertaken. 

In  estimating  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  as  an  evidence  of  divine 
attestation,  consider, 

I.   The  difficulties  which  its  first  promulgators  encountered,  .     .     .  320 

1.  The  novelty  of  the  idea  of  propagating  a  new  religion,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  others, 320 

2.  The  peculiarity  of  the  gospel,  as  a  system  of  doctrine,  and  a  rule 
of  heart  and  life, 322 

3.  From  the  above,  it  results  that  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
must  have  been  opposed  by  all  the  influence  of  every  priesthood, 
heathen  and  Jewish, 325 

4.  The  opposition  of  the  magistrate  was  added  to  that  of  the 
priest, 329 

5.  To  these  associated  powers  were  added  the  opposing  prejudices  and 
passions  of  all  people, 330 

6.  The  wisdom  and 'pride  of  the  heathen  philosophers  were  not  the 
least  formidable  opponents, 331 

7.  All  these  opponents  derived  the  greater  influence  £rom  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  age, 332 

8.  They  appear  the  more  formidable  in  contrast  with  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  men  to  whom  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  was 
committed, 334 

9.  And  by  a  consideration  of  the  circumstances  of  depression  and 
discouragement  under  which  those  men  began  their  work,  .     .  335 

10.  And  of  the  mode  they  adopted, 336 

11.  They  were  met  everywhere  by  the  fiercest  persecution,     .     .  337 
It  is  certain  that  they  understood  the  difficulties  and  anticipated  the 

dangers  of  their  undertaking, 341 

II.   The  success  of  the  apostle*  in  propagating  the  gospel^     .     .     .  342 


CONTENTS.  11 

A  brief  view  of  the  progress  of  Christianity  during  about  seventy 
years  from  the  commencement  of  its  promulgation,    .     .     342-349 

This  rapid  extension  compared  with  that  of  the  doctrines  of  heathen 
philosophers, 349 

And  with  the  propagation  of  Mohammedanism, 351 

And  with  the  success  attending  etforts  at  the  present  day  for  the 
establishment  of  Christianity  among  the  heathen,      ....  355 

The*  propagation  of  the  gospel  by  the  apostles  was  a  miracle,     .  357 

The  absurdities  necessarily  attaching  to  any  effort  to  account  for  it 
on  other  grounds  than  that  of  the  power  and  favor  of  God,      .  358 

The  argument  firom  propagation  is  not  yet  complete.  It  is  yet  to 
receive  immense  additional  force  from  the  success  which  is  yet 
promised  to  the  gospel, 361 

LECTURE   X. 

THE  FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY, 362 

A  fourth  line  of  a,rgument,  and  a  fourth  independent  proof  commenced 

in  this  lecture. 
The  true  results  of  any  system  of  doctrine  are  alw&ys  a  correct  expo- 
nent of  its  character,  as  true  or  false. 
This  is  a  test  to  which  the  Saviour  himself  directed  us,     .     .     .362 
It  were  well  if  infidelity  were  more  frequently  tried  by  this  test,    363 
The  consideration  of  the  fruits  of  Christianity  divided  into, 

I.  The  effectt  of  Christianity  on  society  in  general^ 364 

II.  Its  effects  on  the  character  and  happiness  of  iU  genuine  die- 
ciplesj 364 

The  former  made  the  subject  of  this  lecture. 

A  brief  survey  of  the  moral  condition  of  the  world  at  the  first  publi- 
cation of  the  gospel, 364 

1.  The  religion  of  the  heathen  in  the  age  of  the  apostles,       .     .  365 

2.  The  spirit  of  cruelty  that  reigned  among  them, 368 

3.  Their  degrading  vices, 372 

The  striking  contrast  wherever  genuine  Christianity  has  reign- 
ed,         375-382 

There  is  no  possible  way  of  accounting  for  this  contrast,  but  by  ascrib- 
ing it  to  the  direct  influence  of  Christianity,     ....     382-385 

Confessions  of  infidels, 386 

Illustrations  of  the  fruit  of  Christianity  in  modem  missions  among 
the  heathen,  ..* 387 

Defence  of  Christianity  against  the  charge  of  being  the  cause  of  the 
wars,  persecutions,  etc.,  which  are  connected  with  its  history,   391 

Application  of  the  argmnent.  The  absurdities  necessarily  involved, 
in  the  creed  of  the  infidel, 399 


12  CONTENTS. 


LECTURE   XI. 

THE  FRUITS  OF  CBRISTI AmTY—Co?itinued, 405 

The  trial  of  Christianity  by  its  fruits  is  as  philosophical  as  it  is  scrip- 
tural. Eighteen  centuries  have  afforded  all  conceivable  opportuni- 
ties of  ascertaining  what  are  its  genuine  fruits, 405 

The  present  lecture  confined  to  the  fruits  of  Christianity  in  the  char- 
acter and  happiness  of  its  genuine  disciples^  406 

Reason  for  placing  such  fruits  among  the  external  evidences,       .  406 

1.  The  moral  transformations  which  the  gospel  in  all  ages  has  noto- 
riously wrought,  cannot  be  accounted  for  but  on  the  supposition  of 
a  divhie  power  accompanying  its  operations, 406 

2.  The  fruits  of  Christianity  in  the  lives  of  its  genuine  disciples,  con- 
trasted with  those  which  notoriouMly  characterize  the  lives  of  its 
opposers, <     .     .  418 

3.  The  fruits,  etc.,  as  displayed  in  the  deaths  of  its  genuine  disci- 
ples, contrasted  with  those  exhibited  in  the  deaths  of  its  op- 
posers,       438 

Practical  conclusion, 455 

LECTURE   XII. 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  ARGUMENT  AND  APPLICATION  TO  OBJEC- 
TIONS,   458 

The  recapitulation  of  the  argument  in  the  preceding  lectures,  458-474 
This  review  leads  to  the  consideration  of, 

1.  The  plainness  and  simplicity  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity,     474 

2.  Their  great  variety  and  accumulation^ 475 

3.  Their  impressivenesSf 478 

4.  The  whole  array  is  strictly  philosophical, 482 

The  objection  founded  on  the  mysteriousness  of  certain  things  in 

Christianity  answered, 491 

The  objection  that  we  cannot  understand"  the  reason  of  certain  things 

for  which  Christianity  is  responsible,  answered, 495 

The  injustice  done  to  Christianity  by  placing  her  so  exclusively  on 

the  defensive.     Let  infidelity  be  placed  in  the  same  position,  .  500 


LECTURE   XIII. 

INSPIRATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  AND  CONCLUDINa  OBSER- 
VATIONS, 505 

Christianity  and  the  Scriptures  are  essentially  associated.  But  the 
proof  of  divine   revelation  in  the   former  is  no  proof  of  divine 


CONTENTS.  13 

inspiration  in  the  latter.    Need  of  inspiration  in  the  book  which 

tells  us  what  Christianity  is,      .     .     .     .     ; 505 

The  proposition  to  be  sustained  in  this  lecture  is,  that 

All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  Crodj 506 

Inspiration  defined, 507 

Having  established  the  credibility  of  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles  an 
messengers  sent  of  God,  our  direct  reference  in  the  present  inquiry 
is  to  what  they  have  asserted;  so  that  our  simple  question  is,  Does 
the  New  Testament  bear  tvitness  that  the  several  books  of  the  Bible 
were  treated  by  the  Saviour  or  his  apostles  as  divinely  inspired?  508 
I.  The  inquiry  begun  with  regard  to  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment,     508 

1.  The  Saviour  and  his  apostles  regarded  the  Old  Testament  with  at 
least  as  much  reverence  as  did  the  Jews  in  their  day,     .     .     .  508 

2.  We  have  the  direct  assertion  of  the  inspiration  of  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  by  St.  Paul, 510 

II.  The  inquiry  continued  with  regard  to  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment,     512 

1.  The  inspiration  of  the  New  Testament  may  be  naturally  and 
reasonably  inferred  from  that  of  the  Old, 512 

2.  The  same  conclusion  necessarily  follows  from  the  evident  inspira- 
tion of  the  apostles  in  their  preaching  and  other  official  acts,  .  514 

3.  If  the  apostles  did  not  intend  to  produce  this  conviction,  and  it 
be  not  well  founded,  they  adopted  the  most  likely  means  of  leading 
us  into  a  most  important  heresy, 518 

Practical  address  to  readers  in  conclusion, 523 


PKEFACE  TO  THE  SIXTH  EDITIOJJ. 


So  many  and  so  remarkable  have  been  the  in« 
stances  which  have  come  to  the  author's  knowledge 
of  a  divine  blessing  attending  the  reading  of  this 
book,  to  the  turning  of  men  from  infidelity,  not  only 
to  the  belief  of  the  truth,  but  to  the  earnest  following 
of  Christ,  that  he  cannot  but  regard  it  as  a  call  from 
God  to  endeavor  to  promote  more  widely  its  circula- 
tion. It  would  make  a  very  interesting  little  book 
were  it  in  the  power  of  the  author  to  recollect  and 
relate  the  particulars  of  the  many  cases  of  persons 
who  have  ascribed  their  conversion  from  infidelity, 
and  their  affectionate  embracing  of  the  gospel,  under 
the  blessing  of  God,  to  the  use  of  this  little,  unpre- 
tending work.  In  many  instances,  the  accounts  were 
given  to  the  author  by  the  persons  themselves  ear- 
nestly seeking  an  interview  for  the  purpose ;  in 
others,  by  their  friends  made  happy  by  their  con- 
version, or  by  those  who  had  advised  the  reading  of 
the  book,  and  wished  its  writer  to  be  partaker  with 
tliem  in  the  joy  of  knowing  that  it  had  been  made  a 
signal  blessing.  Some  are  now  in  the  ministry  of 
the  gospel,  who,  when  they  began  the  perusal,  were 
in  the  darkness  of  infidelity.  A  copy  of  the  first 
edition  was  sent  by  the  author,  as  a  present,  to  the 


16  PREFACE  TO  THE  SIXTH  EDITION. 

library  of  a  literary  institution.  Some  time  after,  he 
received  a  request  for  another  copy,  with  the  reason 
that  the  first  had  got  worn  out  before  it  ever  reached 
its  destination.  The  explanation  was,  that  an  officer 
of  the  institution  had  lent  it  to  a  person  living  in  a 
neighboring  village,  who  was  well  known  among  the 
inhabitants  as  an  infidel,  and  who  had  succeeded  in 
poisoning  the  minds  of  many  in  the  vicinity  against 
the  gospel.  G  od  blessed  the  book  to  the  breaking  up 
of  that  man's  whole  boasted  system  of  opinion.  He 
became  a  Christian,  and  then  sent  the  volume  as  a 
missionary  among  those  whom  he  had  poisoned. 
When  its  rounds  were  done,  which  were  greatly 
blessed,  it  was  worn  out,  and  a  new  one  was  re- 
quested for  the  Hbrary. 

The  author  is  sensitively  aware  of  the  delicacy 
of  his  speaking  of  these  things,  lest  he  should  seem 
to  regard  them  with  feelings  of  self-complacency,  and 
to  mention  them  with  a  view  to  his  own  praise.  God 
forbid.  How  can  he  take  praise  to  himself  for  that 
which  is,  and  must  be  so  exclusively,  the  work  of  the 
mighty  power  and  unsearchable  grace  of  God,  as  the 
conversion  of  a  sinner  from  a  hardened  infidel  to  being 
an  humble,  obedient  follower  of  Christ  ?  He  has  three 
motives  in  speaking  of  these  things.  One  is,  that  he 
may  thankfully  acknowledge  the  goodness  and  con- 
descension of  God  in  having  made  use  of  an  instru- 
ment so  humble  and  unworthy,  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  such  a  wonderful  and  infinitely  precious  end 
as  the  turning  of  immortal  souls  ''  from  darkness  to 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SIXTH  EDITION.  17 

light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God."  Cer- 
tainly, when  these  lectures  were  composed,  and  when 
the  author  concluded  to  print  them,  he  little  expected 
over  to  be  greeted  with  such  accounts  of  their  use- 
fulness as  have  come  to  his  ears. 

Another  motive  is,  that  persons  may  be  encour- 
aged to  put  this,  or  similar  books,  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  unhappily  have  taken  up  with  sentiments 
opposed  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  There  is  a  mass  and 
a  solemnity  of  strength  in  the  evidences  of  Christi- 
anity, when  properly  presented — there  is  visible  upon 
them  so  distinctly  the  handwriting  of  God,  that  they 
cannot  fail  to  be  exceedingly  impressive  to  any  mind 
that  is  once  induced  to  consider  them.  The  author  is 
persuaded  that  professing  Christians  are  too  little 
informed  on  this  subject  for  their  own  benefit  and 
usefulness,  and  that  the  importance  of  the  general 
circulation  of  well-digested,  serious,  earnest,  spiritu- 
ally-minded works  thereon,  is  not  rightly  appreciated 
by  the  Christian  community. 

A  third  motive  is,  to  point  out  one  reason  which 
may  account  for  the  fact,  that  in  the  circulation  of 
this  book  and  others  of  the  same  class  in  a  certain 
respect  which  will  presently  be  mentioned,  there  have 
occurred  so  many  more  instances,  not  merely  of  the 
removal  of  sceptical  doubts,  but  also  of  the  actual 
work  of  God's  grace  in  turning  sinners  to  himself, 
than  have  usually  been  known  in  connection  with 
books  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  No  explana- 
tion can  be  found  in  any  greater  skill,  or  weight  of 


18  PREFACE  TO  THE  SIXTH  EDITION. 

argument — in  any  new  evidences,  or  any  new  logical 
method  of  arraying  what  had  often  been  exhibited 
before.  It  seems  to  be  in  this,  that  the  argument  is 
not  presented  merely  as  an  argument^  abstractedly 
from  the  great  and  infinitely  momentous  interests 
which  depend  upon  the  conclusion  to  which  the 
reader  shall  come,  but  is  kept  in  close  connection  with 
the  question.  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  and  thus 
its  whole  force  becomes  a  matter  of  serious  and 
solemn  impression,  as  well  as  of  intellectual  convic- 
tion. This  is  seen  in  the  admirable  lectures  on  the 
Evidences,  by  Bishop  Wilson,  and  also  in  the  forcible 
volume  on  the  same  subject,  by  one  whom  the  pres- 
ent writer  cannot  speak  of  without  an  expression  of 
veneration  and  loVe  for  one  of  the  most  eminent 
Christians  and  philosophers  of  his  age — his  deceased 
friend,  the  late  Olinthus  Gregory,  LL.  D.  Those 
books  exhibit  gospel  truth,  as  well  as  prove  that  the 
gospel  is  true.  The  earnestness  of  the  Christian 
preacher  accompanies  the  argument  of  the  scholastic 
reasoner.  The  question  stands  before  the  reader  as 
one  of  conscience  as  well  as  of  judgment.  It  seems 
invested  with  all  that  is  serious  in  the  worth  of  his 
soul  and  in  the  consideration  of  eternity.  God  blesses 
such  books  of  evidences  more  than  others,  as  he 
blesses  those  sermons  more  than  others  which,  though 
they  may  be  inferior  in  argument,  in  talent,  in  elo- 
quence, have  more  of  the  seriousness  and  earnestness 
of  the  gospel.  Perhaps  the  writer  may  be  allowed  to 
insert  here,  in  confirmation  of  these  views,  the  opinion 


TREFACE   TO  THE  ENGLISH  EDITION.  19 

of  one  whose  judgment  he  is  glad  of  an  opportunity 
of  honoring.  The  present  noble  president  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  Lord  Bexley,  ad- 
dressed to  the  writer,  in  1833,  a  very  kind  letter  con- 
cerning this  volume,  in  which  he  said,  "In  one 
important  respect,  it  seems  to  excel  other  works  of  a 
similar  kind,  namely,  that  while  the  chain  of  argu- 
ment is  deduced  with  great  clearness  and  force,  no 
opportunity  is  lost  of  giving  it  a  practical  application, 
and  of  impressing  holiness  on  the  heart,  as  well  as 
conviction  on  the  understanding.  The  want  of  this 
renders  many  books  dry  and  repulsive,  which  are 
much  to  be  admired  for  sagacity  and  extent  of  infor- 
mation." 

In  the  year  1833,  this  work  was  reprinted  in 
England,  under  the  advice  and  superintendence  of  the 
late  Dr.  Olinthus  Gregory,  of  the  Royal  Military 
Academy,  whose  preface  to  that  edition  the  author, 
in  affectionate  remembrance  of  his  deceased  friend, 
here  subjoins.*  C.  P.  M'lLVAINE. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  ENGLISH  EDITION. 

BY  OLINTHUS  aREaORY.  LL.D. 

The  English  friends  of  the  author  of  these  Lec- 
tures on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity  are  unanimous 
in   deciding   that   they   will    constitute    a    valuable 

*  A  new  London  edition  has  recently  been  issued  by  the 
Messrs.  Seeley.    November  12,  1852. 


20  PREFACE  TO  THE  ENGLISH  EDITION. 

addition  to  our  sacred  literature.  On  a  subject  which 
has  been  repeatedly  treated,  and  often  by  men  of  dis- 
tinguished talent  and  learning,  much  that  is  es 
sentially  new  is  not  to  be  expected.  Yet  the  specific 
purpose  for  which  a  work  of  this  kind  is  undertaken 
may  cause  the  main  arguments  to  be  placed  in  such 
a  position,  while  some  of  the  subordinate  topics  may 
be  exhibited  in  so  strong  a  light,  as  to  give  to  the  whole 
an  air  of  light  and  freshness  well  fitted  to  convey  high 
gratification  in  union  with  rich  instruction.  Several, 
indeed,  of  the  trains  of  reasoning  pursued  by  the 
author  seem  to  be  entirely  original ;  at  the  same 
time  that  they  are  conducted  with  considerable  skill, 
and  by  their  accumulative  property,  lead  to  an  ulti- 
mate issue  that  must  make  a  deep  and  salutary 
impression  on  the  mind  of  any  candid  investigator  of 
this  ever  momentous  subject.  It  may  further  be 
added,  that  the  Christian  feeling,  benevolence,  and 
warmth  with  which  the  author  conducts  his  inquiry, 
in  its  several  stages,  honorably  distinguish  this  work 
from  many  of  its  predecessors  ;  while  they  show  that 
instead  of  regarding  Christian  truth  as  supplying 
matter  for  a  pleasing  speculation,  he  considers  it  as 
that  which  alone  can  make  men  truly  holy,  happy, 
honorable,  and  useful,  and  transform  the  world  from 
an  aceldama  to  the  paradise  of  Grod. 

May  ],  1833. 


EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


LECTURE    I. 

INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS. 

I  APPEAR  before  those  who  have  come  this  evening 
to  favor  me  with  their  attention,  as  sustaining,  under 
appointment  from  the  University  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  the  office  of  Lecturer  on  the  Evidences  of 
Christianity.*  It  is  but  justice  to  my  own  feelings, 
to  assure  you  that  I  had  not  thought  of  entering  on 
so  much  responsibility  until  earnestly  requested  to  do 
so  by  respected  individuals  belonging  to  the  council 
of  that  institution.  I  am  not  without  much  appre- 
hension of  having  ventured  far  beyond  my  qualifica- 
tions in  acceding  to  their  desires.  When  I  think  of 
the  many  in  this  city  of  much  superior  furniture  of 
mind  and  spirit,  to  whom  the  office  might  have  been 
intrusted,  and  of  my  own  daily  and  engrossing  occu- 
pations in  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  leaving  so  little 
time  or  strength  for  any  other  occupation  however 
important,  it  is  a  matter  almost  of  alarm  that  I  find 

*  These  lectures  were  delivered  when  the  author  was 
rector  of  St.  Ann's  church,  Brooklyn,  and  connected  with  the 
University  of  the  city  of  New  York,  then  recently  established. 


22  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

myself  committed  to  a  series  of  lectures  for  which  the 
very  best  intellect,  the  soundest  judgment,  and  the 
most  deliberate  study,  are  so  much  needed.  But 
having  undertaken  the  work,  I  trust  the  Lord  has 
ordered  the  step  in  wisdom,  and,  if  I  seek  his  guid- 
ance, will  enable  me  to  go  forward  in  a  strength 
above  my  own;  so  that  I  may  be  the  instrument, 
under  his  hand,  of  contributing  something  to  promote 
the  improvement  and  everlasting  happiness  of  those 
to  whom  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  speaking. 

The  present  lecture  will  be  exclusively  of  an 
introductory  kind.  I  pause  at  the  threshold  in  re- 
membrance of  the  word  and  promise  of  God,  *^  In  all 
thy  ways  acknowledge  Him,  and  he  shall  direct  thy 
paths."  I  would  devoutly  acknowledge  God  as  the 
omniscient  witness  in  this  undertaking;  the  only 
source  of  wisdom,  strength,  and  blessing,  '^  from 
whom  all  holy  desires,  all  good  counsels,  and  all  just 
works  do  proceed."  May  his  Holy  Spirit,  through 
the  mediation  of  his  Son,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
is  '*the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,"  ^'  God,  blessed 
for  ever,"  condescend  to  guide  our  way  and  help  our 
infirmities,  that  all  may  see  and  embrace  the  truth. 

The  subject  to  which  we  are  to  direct  our  atten- 
tion, has  engaged  the  powers  of  wise,  learned,  and 
good  men,  in  almost  all  ages  since  the  promulgation 
of  Christianity.  Minds  of  every  class,  and  in  all  de- 
partments of  intellectual  occupation,  have  directly  or 
indirectly,  by  design  or  unwittingly,  contributed 
materials  for  its  elucidation.  Thus  it  has  come  to 
pass  that  the  difficulty  of  an  appropriate  exhibition  of 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  23 

the  evidences  of  Christianity  is  rather  on  the  side  of 
selection  and  arrangement  and  the  just  proportioning 
of  arguments,  than  of  their  sufficient  multiplication. 
To  give  the  various  branches  of  the  subject  their  just 
measure  of  relief  and  prominence ;  to  determine  what 
should  be  displayed  strongly  and  completely,  and 
what  should  be  sketched  with  a  lighter  pencil,  and 
placed  in  the  background  of  the  picture;  to  adjust 
the  numerous  parts  in  such  symmetry  as  will  present 
tlie  whole  with  the  most  undivided  and  overcoming 
effect,  is  a  difficulty  of  no  little  magnitude,  where 
attention  to  space  and  time  is  of  so  much  conse- 
quence as  in  the  present  undertaking.  The  nicest 
discrimination,  the  most  logical  mind,  and  a  talent 
for  extensive  combination,  may  here  find  room  for  the 
exercise  of  all  their  powers.  The  danger  is  that  one 
will  lose  himself  amidst  the  wide  spread  and  accumu- 
lated treasures  of  illustration  and  evidence ;  that  he 
will  fail  so  entirely  in  their  classification  as  to  see  and 
exhibit  them  confusedly  and  unjustly,  and  for  want 
of  a  good  discipline  among  his  own  thoughts  will  lead 
out  his  forces  in  feeble  detail,  instead  of  forming  them 
into  compact  masses,  and  meeting  the  enemy  on  every 
side  with  a  self-sustained  combination  of  strength. 

Before  we  proceed  to  the  main  question  on  which 
our  subsequent  lectures  are  to  be  employed,  it  will  be 
well  to  call  your  attention  to, 

I.  The  high  importance  of  the  investigation  on 
tvhich  we  are  about  to  enter.  You  are  to  unite  with 
me  in  examining  the  grounds  on  which  the  religion 
of  the  gospel  claims  to  be  received,  to  the  exclusion 


24  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

of  every  other  religion  in  the  world,  as  containing  the 
only  way  of  duty  and  the  only  foundation  of  a  sin- 
ner's hope  of  salvation;  so  that  you  may  be  enabled 
to  answer  satisfactorily  to  your  own  consciences,  and 
to  all  who  may  ask  a  reason  for  your  belief,  this  great 
question:  Is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  as  exhib* 
ited  in  the  New  Testament^  a  revelation  from  God, 
and  consequently  possessed  of  a  sovereign  right  to 
universal  faith  and  obedience  ? 

There  are  considerations  intrinsically  belonging 
to  this  question,  which  place  it  in  an  aspect  of  unri- 
valled importance. 

We  must  have  the  religion  of  Christ,  or  none, 
A  very  little  reflection  will  make  it  apparent,  that 
the  question  as  to  the  truth  of  Christianity  is  not  one 
of  preference  between  two  rival  systems  of  doctrine, 
having  conflicting  claims  and  nearly  balanced  argu- 
ments and  benefits.  It  is  not  whether  the  gospel  is 
more  true  and  salutary  than  some  other  mode  of  re- 
ligion, which,  though  inferior,  would  still  secure 
many  of  the  most  essential  and  substantial  benefits 
for  which  religion  is  desirable.  But  it  is  no  other 
than  the  plain  and  solemn  question,  Shall  we  believe 
in  the  faith  of  Christ,  or  in  none?  Shall  we  receive 
and  be  comforted  by  the  light  which  the  gospel  has 
thrown  over  all  our  present  interests  and  future  pros- 
pects ;  or  shall  our  condition  in  this  life — our  relation 
to  the  future — what  we  are  to  be,  and  what  we  are 
to  receive  hereafter  and  for  ever,  be  left  in  appalling, 
impenetrable  darkness?  Such  is  the  real  question 
when  we  inquire  whether  Christianity  is  a  revelation 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  26 

from  God.  Do  any  ask  the  reason?  Because,  if 
such  be  the  divine  origin  and  authority  of  the  religion 
of  Christ,  there  can  be  no  other  religion.  It  claimi 
not  only  to  stand,  but  to  stand  alone.  It  demands 
not  only  that  we  believe  it,  but  that  in  doing  so  we 
consider  ourselves  as  denying  the  truth  of  every  other 
system  of  faith.  Like  the  one  living  and  true  Grod, 
whose  seal  and  character  it  bears,  it  is  jealous ,  and 
will  not  share  its  honor  with  another ;  but  requires  us 
to  believe,  that  as  there  is  but  one  Lord,  so  there  is 
but  one  faith — the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  Christianity  be  not  of  divine  origin,  it 
is  no  religion;  its  essential  doctrines  must  be  false; 
its  whole  structure  baseless.  Suppose  then  for  a 
moment  that  such  were  the  case,  what  could  we  sub- 
stitute for  the  gospel?  We  must  either  plunge  into 
the  abyss  of  Atheism,  or  find  something  in  the  regions 
of  Paganism  that  would  answer ;  or  be  content  with 
the  religion  of  ]\Iohammed ;  or  else  find  what  our  na- 
ture wants  in  that  which  is  unjustly  distinguished  as 
the  Religion  of  Nature.  In  other  words,  we  must 
become  Dei  sis.  But  is  there  a  creed  among  the 
countless  absurdities  of  Pagan  belief  and  worsliip 
which  any  of  us  could  be  persuaded  to  adopt  ?  Could 
we  be  convinced  of  the  prophetic  character  of  the 
Arabian  impostor,  and  receive  as  of  divine  authority 
the  professed  revelations  and  uiurighteous  features  of 
the  Koran,  after  having  rejected  such  a  book  as  the 
New  Testament,  and  such  evidences  as  those  of  Jesus  ? 
Where  else  could  we  flee?  To  Atheism?  But  that 
is  the  gulf  in  which  all  religions  are  lost.    Darkness  is 


26  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

on  the  face  of  the  deep.  Nothing  remains  that  does 
not  acknowledge  the  divine  revelation  of  Christianity, 
but  the  self-styled  religion  of  nature — Deism.  And 
what  shall  be  said  of  this?  I  am  unable  to  give  an 
account  of  it  more  definite,  than  that  it  is  the  denial 
of  Christianity  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Atheism  on  the 
other,  and  is  to  be  found  somewhere  between  these 
two  infinitely  distant  extremes;  never  stationary, 
changing  place  with  the  times;  accommodating  its 
character  to  the  disposition  of  every  disciple,  and  per- 
mitting any  one  to  assume  the  name  of  Deist  who 
will  only  believe  these  two  articles  of  faith — that  there 
is  a  God,  and  that  Christianity  is  untrue.  Such  is 
the  religion  which,  according  to  Paine,  ^  Reaches  us, 
without  the  possibility  of  being  mistaken,  all  that  is 
necessary  or  proper  to  be  known."  And  yet,  notwith- 
standing this  boasted  fulness  and  infallibility  of  in- 
struction, there  is  no  agreement  among  Deists  as  to 
what  their  natural  religion  consists  in,  or  as  to  the 
truth  of  what  some  of  them  consider  its  most  funda- 
mental doctrines.  Their  chief  writers  are  altogether 
at  variance  as  to  whether  there  is  any  distinction  be- 
tween  right  and  wrong,  other  than  in  the  law  of  the 
land  or  the  customs  of  society;  whether  there  is  a 
Providence;  whether  God  is  to  be  worshipped  in 
prayer  and  praise,  or  the  practice  of  virtue  is  not  the 
only  worship  required ;  whether  the  practice  of  virtue 
forbids  or  encourages  deceit,  suicide,  revenge,  adul- 
tery, and  all  uncleanness;  whether  the  soul  is  mortal 
or  immortal;  whether  God  has  any  concern  with 
human  conduct. 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  27 

Now,  without  spending  a  moment  upon  the  ques- 
tion as  to  what  evidence  or  what  adaptation  to  the 
wants  of  men  and  of  sinners  Deism  could  pretend  to, 
after  the  rejection  of  evidence  and  excellence  such  as 
those  of  the  gospel,  let  me  ask  whether  Deism  can 
with  any  propriety  be  called  religion?  Does  that 
deserve  the  name  of  a  system  of  religious  faith  which 
has  no  settled  doctrine  upon  the  most  essential  points 
of  belief  and  practice — which  may  acknowledge  as 
many  contradictory  forms,  at  the  same  moment,  as  it 
has  disciples,  and  never  could  remain  long  enough  in 
one  position  or  under  one  countenance  for  the  most 
skilful  pencil  to  take  its  portrait?  But  aside  from  all 
this,  it  is  too  notorious  to  be  argued,  that  whatever 
pretensions  may  have  been  advanced  by  Deists  to 
something  like  a  theory  of  religious  belief,  it  is  at 
best  a  mere  theory;  utterly  powerless  in  practice, 
except  to  liberate  its  disciples  from  all  conscientious 
restraint  upon  their  passions,  and  promote  in  the 
public  mind  the  wildest  licentiousness  as  to  all  moral 
obligation. 

Substitute  Deism  for  Christianity,  and  none  ac- 
quainted with  the  nature  or  history  of  man  can  help 
acknowledging,  that  as  to  all  the  beneficial  influence 
of  religion  upon  the  heart  and  life,  in  promoting 
either  the  moral  purity  of  individuals  or  the  happi- 
ness of  society,  we  shall  have  no  religion  at  all. 
When  have  Deists  ever  maintained  a  habit  of  private, 
family,  or  public  worship?  Attempts  have  been 
made  among  them  to  keep  up  some  mode  of  congre- 
gational service,  but  total  failure,  in  every  instance, 


28  M^LVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

has  proved  how  forced  was  the  effort,  and  how  little 
it  would  have  been  thought  of,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
surrounding  influence  of  Christianity.  The  first  at- 
tempt was  by  a  man  in  England,  who  styled  himself 
the  Priest  of  Nature.  He  relapsed  from  being  a  dis- 
senting preacher  of  an  orthodox  creed  to  Socinianism, 
thence  to  Deism ;  after  which  he  set  up  in  London  a 
house  of  worship,  formed  a  liturgy,  was  patronized 
by  some  persons  of  influence,  preached,  and  collected 
some  disciples.  But  most  of  his  people  became  Athe- 
ists ;  and  after  an  experiment  of  four  years,  the  con- 
gregation was  reduced  to  nothing,  funds  failed,  and 
the  effort  was  abandoned.  The  most  formidable  en- 
terprise in  this  way  took  place  in  France  during  the 
revolution.  Having  found  by  some  experience,  that 
to  acknowledge  no  God  was  to  have  no  law,  and  to  be 
without  religious  institutions  was  to  want  civilization 
and  peace,  certain  persons  distinguished  for  learning, 
and  calling  themselves  Theophilanthropists^  set  up  a 
society  for  the  worship  of  God  on  the  principles  of 
Deism.  The  desolated  churches  of  Paris  were  given 
for  their  object.  A  directory  of  deistical  worship 
was  published,  containing  prayers  and  hymns.  Lec- 
tures were  substituted  for  sermons.  The  ceremonies 
were  simple,  tasteful,  and  classical.  Music  added 
its  charms.  The  form  of  worship  was  sent  into  all 
parts  of  the  country,  and  great  exertions  were  made 
by  the  powers  of  the  state  to  get  up  this  religion  in 
every  town.  Circumstances  were  exceedingly  pro- 
pitious to  the  enterprise.  Christianity  had  been  ban- 
ished.    Her  witnesses  were  in  sackcloth.     She  had 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  29 

none  to  oppose  themselves  to  the  scheme  of  her  ene- 
mies. The  country  was  sick  of  the  horrors  of  Athe- 
ism. Some  religion  was  demanded  by  public  feeling. 
This  contrivance  had  nothing  in  it  offensive  to  the 
sinner,  while  it  seemed  to  be  skilfully  adapted  to  the 
people  and  the  times.  Moreover,  it  was  patronized 
by  government,  and  conformed  to  by  the  learned. 
The  ceremonies  were  well  performed;  the  musical 
accompaniments  excellent.  But  all  would  not  do. 
No  sooner  had  novelty  ceased,  than  the  assemblies 
were  thinned.  The  trifling  expenses  of  music  and 
apparatus  could  not  be  raised  out  of  the  liberality  of 
the  people.  The  society  was  split  up  with  dissen- 
sions, some  refusing  the  manual  of  worship;  others 
complaining  against  the  lecturers  as  aiming  at  too 
much  power ;  others  demanding  that  the  creed  of  the 
society  should  be  more  liberal,  and  allow  a  greater 
latitude  of  belief.  None  at  last  could  be  got  to  lec- 
ture. To  keep  up  the  popular  interest,  and  to  escape 
the  charge  of  bigotry,  religious  festivals  were  appoint- 
ed, in  which  a  union  of  service  was  attempted  be- 
tween Jews,  Protestants,  Catholics,  Deists,  and  Athe- 
ists. There  were  festivals  in  honor  of  Socrates,  of 
Rousseau,  and  of  Washington.  At  one  of  these,  a 
banner  inscribed  with  the  name  Morality  was  carried 
by  a  man  notorious  as  a  professor  of  Atheism.  But 
all  would  not  do.  The  great  principle  of  religion  was 
wanting.  There  was  no  devotional  spirit.  The  body 
was  dead,  and  therefore  soon  tumbled  to  dust.  A 
short  time  after,  a  counsellor  of  France  in  a  public 
address,  declared  the  result  of  the  experiment  in  these 


80  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

words:  *^For  want  of  a  religious  education  for  the 
last  ten  years,  our  children  are  without  any  ideas  of 
a  Divinity,  without  any  notion  of  what  is  just  and 
unjust;  hence  arise  barbarous  manners,  hence  a  peo- 
ple become  ferocious.  Alas,  what  have  we  gained  by 
deviating  from  the  path  pointed  out  by  our  ancestors  ? 
What  have  we  gained  by  substituting  vain  and  ab- 
stract doctrines  for  the  creed  which  actuated  the 
minds  of  Turenne,  Fenelon,  and  Pascal?"* 

I  cannot  omit,  in  connection  with  these  striking 
confessions,  the  description  given  by  one  of  the  most 
famous  infidels  in  those  times,  of  all  that  class  of 
philosophers  whose  views  and  schemes  we  have  been 
noticing.  Thus  writes  Rousseau  :  ''I  have  consulted 
our  philosophers,  I  have  perused  their  books,  I  have 
examined  their  several  opinions,  I  have  found  them 
all  proud,  positive,  and  dogmatizing  even  in  their 
pretended  scepticism,  knowing  every  thing,  proving 
nothing,  and  ridiculing  one  another ;  and  this  is  the 
only  point  in  which  they  concur,  and  in  which  they 
are  right.  If  you  count  their  number,  each  one  is 
reduced  to  himself;  they  never  unite  but  to  dispute. 
I  conceived  that  the  insufficiency  of  the  human  un- 
derstanding was  the  first  cause  of  this  prodigious  di- 
versity of  sentiment,  and  that  pride  was  the  second. 
If  our  philosophers  were  able  to  discover  truth,  which 
.of  them  would  interest  himself  about  it  ?  Where  is 
the  philosopher  who  for  his  own  glory  would  not  will- 
ingly deceive  the  whole  human  race  ?     Where  is  he 

*  For  more  particulars,  see  Alexander's  Evidences  and 
D wight's  Sermons,  vol.  1,  191. 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  31 

who  in  the  secret  of  his  heart  proposes  any  other  ob- 
ject than  his  own  distinction?  The  great  thing  for 
him  is  to  think  differently  from  other  people.  Under 
pretence  of  being  themselves  the  only  people  enlight- 
ened, they  imperiously  subject  us  to  their  magisterial 
decisions,  and  would  fain  palm  upon  us,  for  the  true 
causes  of  things,  the  unint^illigible  systems  they  have 
erected  in  their  own  heads,'  while  they  overturn,  de- 
ijtroy,  and  trample  under  foot  all  that  mankind  re- 
veres ;  snatch  from  the  afflicted  the  only  comfort  left 
them  in  their  misery,  from  the  rich  and  great  the 
only  curb  that  can  restrain  their  passions ;  tear  from 
the  heart  all  remorse  of  vice,  ail  hopes  of  virtue ;  and 
still  boast  themselves  the  benefactors  of  mankind. 
*  Truth,'  they  say,  *  is  never  hurtful  to  man.'  1  be- 
lieve that,  as  well  as  they;  and  the  same,  in  my 
opinion,  is  a  proof  that  wliat  they  teach  is  not  the 
truth."*  Such  are  the  singular  expressions  of  a 
noted  infidel,  into  whose  mind  the  truth  sometimes 
forced  an  entrance,  in  spite  of  all  his  levity  of  mind 
and  profligacy  of  life.  They  are  the  confessions  of 
one  of  the  chief  actors  in  the  farce  of  natural  relig- 
ion, and  by  leading  us  behind  the  scenes,  display  in 
a  most  impressive  light,  that  if  deism  be  the  only 
substitute  for  Christianity,  we  must  have  no  religion 
or  that  of  Jesus. 

So  that,  in  examining  the  evidences  of  Christi- 
anity, we  should  solemnly  feel  that  the  question  be- 
fore us  is  of  no  less  magnitude  than  whether  life  and 

*  Gandolphy'a  Defence  of  the  Ancient  Faith :   quoted  in 
Gregory's  Letters,  vol.  1,  pp.  6,  7. 


32  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

immortality  have  been  brought  to  light  by  the  gos- 
pel, or  they  are  still  involved  in  deep  and  confound- 
ing darkness;  whether  religion  is  revealed  in  the 
Bible,  or  every  thing  on  earth  under  the  name  of  re- 
ligion is  false  and  impotent.  Now,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered what  desolation  would  sweep  at  once  over  all 
the  interests  of  society,  were  the  restraint  of  religion 
withdrawn  from  the  floodgates  of  human  corruption ; 
what  immense  benefits  have  ensued,  and  must  en- 
sue, even  by  the  confession  of  some  of  its  most  vio- 
lent opposers,  from  the  diffusion  of  the  gospel ;  what 
happy  effects  upon  the  character  and  present  happi- 
ness of  its  genuine  disciples  it  has  always  produced, 
reforming  their  lives,  purifying  their  hearts,  elevating 
their  affections,  healing  the  wounds  of  the  guilty, 
taking  away  the  sting  of  death,  and  lighting  even 
the  sepulchre  with  a  hope  full  of  glory;  when  it  is 
considered  what  high  claims  the  gospel  asserts  to  an 
unlimited  sovereignty  over  all  our  affections  and  fac- 
ulties, requiring  our  entire  submission,  promising  to 
every  devout  believer  eternal  life,  and  to  all  that  re- 
fuse its  claims  everlasting  woe,  it  must  at  once  be 
evident  that  the  subject  before  us  is  no  matter  of 
mere  intellectual  interest,  but  one  in  which  every 
expectant  of  eternity  has  an  immeasurable  stake. 
No  mind  has  any  right  to  indifference  here.  With- 
out the  most  wonderful  folly  no  mind  can  be  indiffer- 
ent here.  Whether  the  claims  of  the  gospel  are  the 
claims  of  God,  is  a  question  to  which  in  point  of 
importance  no  other  can  pretend  a  comparison,  ex- 
cept this  one:   Believing^in  those  claims^  have  /, 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  33 

in  my  heart,  embraced  the  gospel,  for  peace  with 
God? 

But  I  speak  to  a  great  many  who  have  no  diffi- 
culty on  this  head,. being  fully  satisfied  that  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ  is  a  divine  revelation.  What  concern 
have  they  with  the  investigation  before  us?  "Much 
every  way."  The  question  for  them  to  ask  is,  On 
what  grounds  are  we  satisfied  ?  Are  we  believers 
in  Christianity  because  we  were  born  of  believing 
parents,  and  have  always  lived  in  a  Christian  coun- 
try; or  because  we  have  considered  the  excellence 
and  weighed  the  proofs  of  this  religion,  and  are 
intelligently  persuaded  that  it  deserves  our  reliance? 
I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  many  truly  devoted 
followers  of  Christ  who  have  never  made  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity  their  study,  and  in  argument 
with  an  infidel  would  be  easily  confounded  by  supe- 
rior skill  and  information ;  but  whose  belief  never- 
theless is,  in  the  highest  degree,  that  of  rational  con- 
viction, since  they  possess  in  themselves  the  best  of 
all  evidence  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  "  the  power 
and  wisdom  of  Grod,"  having  experienced  its  trans- 
forming, purifying,  elevating,  and  enlightening  effi- 
cacy upon  their  own  hearts  and  characters.  Did 
such  believers  abound,  Christianity  would  be  much 
less  in  need  of  other  evidence.  Were  all  that  call 
themselves  Christians  thus  experimentally  convinced 
of  the  preciousness  of  the  gospel,  I  would  still  urge 
upon  them  the  duty  and  advantage  of  studying  as  far 
as  possible  the  various  arguments  which  illustrate 
the  divinity  of  its  origin.     I  would  urge  it  on  con- 


34  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

siderations  of  pe7'sonal  pleasure  and  spiritual  im- 
provement.  There  is  a  rich  feast  of  knowledge  and 
of  devout  contemplation  to  be  found  in  this  study. 
The  serious  believer,  who  has  not.  pursued  it,  has  yet 
to  learn  with  what  wonderful  and  impressive  light 
the  God  of  the  gospel  has  manifested  its  truth.  Its 
evidences  are  not  only  convincing,  but  delightfully 
plain ;  astonishingly  accumulated,  and  of  immense 
variety  as  well  as  strength.  He  who  will  take  the 
pains  not  only  to  pursue  the  single  line  of  argument 
which  may  seem  enough  to  satisfy  his  own  mind, 
but  devoutly  to  follow  up  in  succession  all  those 
great  avenues  which  lead  to  the  gospel  as  the  central 
fountain  of  truth,  will  be  presented  at  every  step 
with  such  evident  marks  of  the  finger  of  Grod — he 
will  hear  from  every  quarter  such  reiterated  assur- 
ances of,  ^'this  is  the  way^  walk  thoii  in  it^^\  he  will 
find  himself  so  enclosed  by  insurmountable  evidences 
shutting  him  up  uiito  the  faith  of  Christ,  that  new 
views  will  open  upon  him  of  the  real  cause  and  guilt 
and  danger  of  all  unbelief ;  new  emotions  of  gratitude 
and  admiration  will  arise  in  his  heart  for  a  revelation 
so  divinely  attested ;  he  will  receive  a  new  impulse 
to  follow  and  promote  such  heavenly  light. 

But  I  would  urge  this  study  on  all  serious  be- 
lievers, who  have  the  means  of  pursuing  it,  as  a 
matter  of  duty.  It  is  not  enough. that  they  are  well 
satisfied.  They  have  a  cause  to  defend  and  promote, 
as  well  as  a  faith  to  love  and  enjoy.  It  is  enjoined 
on  them,  by  the  authority  of  their  divine  Master, 
that  they  be  ready  to  give  to  every  man  that  asketh 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  35 

them,  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  them.  They 
must  be  able  to  answer  intelligently  the  question, 
Why  do  you  believe  iti  Christianity ?  For  tliis  pur- 
pose, it  is  not  enough  to  be  able  to  speak  of  a  sense 
of  the  truth,  arising  from  an  inward  experience  of  its 
power  and  blessedness.  This  is  excellent  evidence 
for  one's  own  mind,  but  it  cannot  be  felt  or  under- 
stood by  an  unbeliever.  The  Christian  advocate  must 
have  a  knowledge  of  the  arguments  by  wliich  infi- 
delity may  be  confounded,  as  well  as  an  experience 
of  the  benefits  for  which  the  gospel  should  be  loved. 
To  obtain  this  in  proportion  to  his  abilities,  he  is 
bound  by  the  all-important  consideration  that  the 
religion  of  Jesus  cannot  be  content  while  one  soul 
remains  in  the  rejection  of  her  light  and  life.  She 
seeks  not  only  to  be  maintained,  but  to  bring  all 
mankind  to  her  blessings.  The  benevolence  of  a 
Christian  should  stimulate  him  to  be  well  armed  for 
the  controversy  with  unbelievers.  Benevolence,  while 
it  should  constrain  the  infidel  most  carefully  to  con- 
ceal his  opinions,  lest  others  be  so  unhappy  as  to  feel 
their  ague  and  catch  their  blight,  should  invigorate 
the  believer  with  the  liveliest  zeal  to  bring  over  his 
fellow-creatures  to  tlie  adoption  of  a  faith  so  glorious 
in  its  hopes  and  so  ennobling  in  its  influence.  Even 
on  the  supposition  that  Christianity  were  false,  un- 
speakably better  should  we  think  it,  to  be  deluded  by 
consolations,  which  though  groundless  would  be  still 
so  precious,  than  enlightened  by  an  infidelity  which 
shrouds  its  disciples  in  such  darkness,  and  drowns 
them  in  such  confusion. 


36  M'lLVAINE'S  ETIDENCES. 

But  if  such  are  the  weighty  considerations  which 
should  induce  an  experienced  Christian  to  study  the 
evidences  of  Christianity,  \yhile  he  carries  in  his  own 
breast  the  strongest  of  all  assurances  of  its  having  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit  of  Grod,  how  much  more  should 
this  subject  receive  the  attention  of  that  numerous 
portion  of  the  population  of  a  Christian  land  who, 
while  they  are  called  Christians,  have  never  experi- 
enced in  their  hearts  the  blessedness  of  the  gospel? 
These  are  eminently  dependent  on  this  study  for  all 
rational  and  steadfast  belief.  Being  destitute  of  the 
anchor  obtained  by  an  inward  sense  of  the  divine 
excellence  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  they  must 
spread  their  sails  to  the  influence  of  external  evi- 
dence, or  be  liable  to  be  tossed  about  with  every 
wind  of  doctrine,  and  wrecked  against  the  cliffs  of 
infidelity.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  that 
the  attention  of  this  class  should  be  much  more 
extensively  obtained  to  the  proofs  of  the  religion  in 
which  they  profess  to  believe.  Multitudes  of  men, 
well  informed  on  other  subjects,  are  believers  for 
hardly  any  other  reason  than  because  their  parents 
were  so,  and  the  fashion  of  society  is  on  this  side. 
The  same  considerations  that  make  them  Christians 
in  this  land,  would  have  made  them  enemies  of 
Christianity  in  others :  Pagans  in  India,  Mohamme- 
dans in  Turkey.  They  can  give  a  better  reason  for 
every  other  opinion  they  profess,  than  for  their  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The  effort  of 
infidels,  combining  ingenious  sophistry  with  high 
pretensiona  to  learning,   and   coming   into  alliance 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  37 

with  strong  dispositions  of  human  nature,  have  an 
open  field  and  must  be  expected  to  do  a  fearful  work 
among  minds  thus  undisciplined  and  unarmed.  It  is 
only  in  the  lowest  possible  sense  of  the  word  that 
they  can  receive  the  name  of  believers.  Instead  of 
adding  strength  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  by  their 
numbers,  they  rather  embarrass  it  by  their  ignorance 
of  its  weapons,  and  bring  it  into  disrepute  by  the 
ease  with  which  they  are  entrapped  in  the  snares  of 
the  enemy.  They  have  no  conception  what  a  truth 
that  is  which  they  so  carelessly  acknowledge ;  how 
impressively  it  is  true;  with  what  awful  authority 
it  is  invested ;  what  a  wonder  is  involved  in  profess^ 
ing  to  believe  and  refusing  to  obey  it.  Do  I  speak 
to  any  who  are  thus  situated?  I  would  earnestly 
exhort  them,  for  their  own  satisfaction  and  stead- 
fastness as  believers  in  revelation,  for  the  purpose  of 
realizing  how  solemnly  the  living  God  has  called 
them  to  submit  as  well  as  assent  to  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  and  for  the  honor  of  a  religion  which  so 
abounds  in  the  best  of  reasons  for  our  belief,  to  make 
a  serious  study  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity. 

To  any  whose  minds  are  not  settled  with  regard 
to  this  momentous  question,  or  who  consider  them- 
selves as  having  arrived  at  a  definite  opinion  against 
the  divine  authority  of  the  gospel,  need  I  say  a  word 
to  show  why  they  above  all  others,  should  give  the 
subject  in  view  their  most  serious  and  diligent  atten- 
tion? Suppose  they  should  become  fixed  in  the  re- 
jection of  Christianity,  and  to  the  influence  of  their 
example  on  the  side  of  infidelity  should  add  the  effort 


38  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

of  argument,  tending  to  weaken  the  faith  of  others, 
and  to  increase  the  number  of  enemies  to  Christ ;  and 
finally,  should  be  convinced  on  the  verge  of  the  grave — 
as  many  of  this  mind  have  been  most  painfully  con- 
vinced— or  in  eternity  should  have  it  discovered  to 
them,  that  what  they  have  been  setting  at  naught 
was  no  less  than  G-od's  own  revelation,  the  gospel  of 
Him  who  Cometh  to  judge  the  quick  and  dead,  and 
that  what  they  had  embraced  and  led  others  to  em- 
brace in  its  stead,  was  only  a  miserable  offspring  of 
human  pride  and  folly,  a  spirit  of  delusion  and  eter- 
nal destruction;  what  then  would  seem  the  impor- 
tance of  a  serious  application'' of  mind  and  heart  to 
this  study — the  madness  of  treating  it  with  indiffer- 
ence, or  pursuing  it  without  the  strictest  impartiality  ? 
That  such  a  discovery  is  at  least  as  likely  as  the  con- 
trary, even  infidels,  in  their  continual  declarations 
that  all  beyond  the  grave  is  unknown,  have  given 
impressive  confessions.  That  it  is  at  least  exceed- 
ingly probable,  independently  of  positive  evidence, 
the  unbeliever  cannot  but  fear  when  he  surveys  the 
history  of  the  world,  and  sees  what  minds  and  what 
hearts,  what  men  of  learning  and  of  holiness  have 
been  ready  to  suffer  any  earthly  loss  or  pain,  rather 
than  be  unassociated  with  the  eternal  blessedness  of 
the  discipleship  of  Christ. 

I  have  now  exhibited  something  of  the  incompa- 
rable importance  of  the  question  before  us,  as  consid- 
ered by  itself.  There  is  an  additional  importance  in 
its  present  investigation,  arising  out  of  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  present  times. 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  39 

We  rejoice  with  others  in  the  beUef  that  this  age, 
in  comparison  with  all  before  it,  merits  distinction  as 
an  age  of  freedom.  We  rejoice  that  it  is  an  age  of 
freedom,  as  well  in  the  investigation  of  all  truth  as 
in  the  assertion  of  all  political  rights.  But  what  is 
called  the  spirit  of  freedom  is  not  everywhere  identi- 
cal with  the  cause  of  truth  and  right.  In  one  region, 
it  is  the  calm,  deliberate  determination  to  be  governed 
only  by  just  and  equal  laws;  in  another,  it  is  the 
furious,  desolating  despiser  of  all  laws  but  those  of 
one's  own  passion  and  selfishness.  This  is  seen  as 
well  in  the  discussion  of  religious  truth,  as  in  the 
vindication  of  assumed  principles  of  civil  liberty. 
There  are  certain  just  and  necessary  laws  to  govern 
us  in  reasoning,  as  much  as  in  acting — to  regulate 
the  investigation  of  moral  and  religious,  as  well  as 
physical  and  political  subjects.  True  liberty  of  mind 
consists  in  the  right  of  being  governed  by  these  laws, 
and  no  other ;  and  at  the  same  time  asserts  their  ab- 
solute necessity.  But  there  is  a  spirit  abroad  which, 
under  the  name  of  freedom  of  opinion,  would  set  at 
defiance  all  the  fundamental  laws  of  reasoning,  and 
denounce,  as  the  oftspring  of  intellectual  despotism, 
whatever  principles  of  moral  evidence  are  at  variance 
with  itself,  This  is  licentiousness,  not  freedom.  It 
is  the  enemy  of  law,  not  of  oppression;  the  very 
menial  of  mental  degradation,  instead  of  what  it 
boasts  itself,  the  prompter  of  manly,  elevated,  inde- 
pendent intellect.  This  spirit  of  evil  is  greatly  on 
the  increase,  because  the  name  and  boast  of  freedom 
are  circulating  far  more  rapidly  in  this  world,  than 


40  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  knowledge  of  its  character  or  the  possession  of  its 
blessings;  because  it  is  so  much  easier  for  the  mass 
of  society  to  burst  at  once  the  whole  body  of  law  by 
which  mind  is  restrained,  than  to  separate  between 
the  precious  and  the  vile ;  and  chiefly  because  with 
the  many  there  is  too  little  reflection  and  too  little 
moral  principle,  when  religion  is  in  question,  to  ap- 
preciate the  important  difference  between  the  oppres- 
sion of  opinion  in  matters  of  reason,  and  the  just  gov- 
ernment of  reason  in  matters  of  opinion.  Nothing, 
in  truth,  has  so  promoted  the  freedom  of  thought, 
of  opinion,  and  of  action,  as  Christianity.  If  any 
thing,  under  her  name,  has  been  guilty  of  the  op- 
posite, it  has  been,  so  far  forth,  the  corruption  of  her 
character  and  the  denial  of  her  principles.  Pure 
Christianity  has  ever  proclaimed  liberty  to  the  cap- 
tive, as  well  in  mental  as  in  physical  slavery.  The 
ages  of  the  purest  freedom  have  been  those  of  her 
greatest  advancement.  She  courts  investigation  when 
it  is  free,  but  rejects  it  fWhen  licentious.  She  is  the 
patroness  of  law,  and  will  be  judged  only  by  law. 
Bring  her  trial  to  the  judgment-seat  of  that  inductive 
philosophy  which  one  of  her  own  children  first  illus- 
trated, and  which  on  other  subjects  the  world  has 
learned  to  use  so  well  and  prize  so  highly-r-let  her  be 
judged  by  the  evidence  of  fact,  and  she  is  satisfied. 
But  this  reasonable  privilege  it  is  more  than  ever  the 
spirit  of  self- constituted  philosophers,  in  their  loud 
declamation  against  the  slavery  of  opinion,  and  their 
licentious  rebellion  against  all  the  laws  of  reasoning, 
to  refuse.     Hence  the  greater  importance  that  our 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  41 

present  subject,  in  all  its  departments,  from  the  most 
fundamental  principles  of  evidence  to  the  highest 
point  of  inductive  argument,  should  he  thoroughly- 
studied  by  all  whose  interest  it  is  to  know,  and  whose 
duty  it  is  to  vindicate  the  truth. 

But  there  is  one  more  consideration,  in  connection 
w^ith  the  present  age,  illustrating  the  peculiar  impor- 
tance of  the  study  you  are  now  commencing.  The 
evidences  of  Christianity,  while  specially  assailed,  in 
these  times,  with  a  licentiousness  and  effrontery 
which  the  dignity  of  no  truth  can  countenance,  and 
the  chastity  of  religious  truth  should  never  meet,  are 
favored  at  the  same  time  with  advantages  for  con- 
vmcing  illustration  such  as  no  preceding  age  ever 
furnished.  Time,  while  it  has  impaired  the  strength 
of  none  of  our  ancient  arguments,  has  greatly  in- 
creased the  weight  of  some,  and  has  added,  and  is 
daily  adding  new  auxiliaries  to  a  body  of  proof  which 
its  enemies  have  never  ventured  to  attack  in  front. 
Every  new  year,  in  the  age  and  trials  of  our  holy 
faith,  is  an  additional  evidence,  that  like  the  pyramids 
of  Memphis,  it  was  made  to  endure.  It  wears  well. 
Christianity  has  been  journeying,  for  the  last  eighteen 
hundred  years,  through  unceasing  trials.  While  as 
yet  an  infant  in  a  land  of  almost  Egyptian  darkness, 
a  Jewish  Pharaoh  attempted  to  strangle  her  in  the 
cradle.  She  grew  up  in  contempt  and  poverty,  and 
began  her  course,  like  Israel  of  old,  through  a  Red  sea 
of  relentless  persecution.  Bitter  waters  awaited  her 
subsequent  progress.  Amalek  with  all  the  principal- 
ities and  powers  of  earth,  during  more  than  three  cen- 


42  M'lLVAlNE^S  EVIDENCES. 

turies,  opposed  her  march.  Fiery  serpents  in  the 
wilderness  of  sin  have  ever  been  stinging  at  her  feet. 
The  world  has  opened  no  fountain,  nor  vouchsafed 
any  bread  to  sustain  her.  What  alliances  the  na- 
tions have  ever  made  with  her  cause  have  only  given 
them  the  greater  power  to  encumber  and  divide  her 
strength.  Her  drink  has  been  drawn  from  the  rock ; 
her  bread  has  been  gathered  in  the  desert.  Noth- 
ing that  malice,  or  learning,  or  power,  or  persever- 
ance could  do  to  arrest  her  goings,  has  been  wanting. 
Even  treachery  in  her  own  household  has  often  en- 
deavored to  betray  her  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
No  age  has  encountered  her  advance  with  such  a 
dangerous  variety  of  force,  or  with  a  more  boastful 
confidence  of  success,  than  the  present.  And  yet,  in 
none  since  that  of  the  primitive  Christians,  has  her 
triumph  been  so  glorious  or  her  conquest  so  extensive. 
At  a  time  of  life  when,  considering  her  fiery  trials, 
one  ignorant  of  her  nature  would  expect  to  see  her 
wrinkled  with  age  and  crippled  with  manifold  infirm- 
ities, it  may  be  said  of  her  with  perfect  truth,  that 
though  for  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  she  has 
been  journeying  through  conflicts  and  trials  innumer- 
able, her  eye  is  not  dim^  nor  her  natural  force 
abated.  She  remains  unchanged  by  time,  the  same 
precisely  as  when  first  proclaimed  in  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem.  The  shield  of  faith,  the  breastplate  of 
righteousness,  the  helmet  of  salvation,  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit,  are  neither  broken  nor  decayed,  but  as 
ready  as  in  the  beginning  to  go  forth  *' conquering  and' 
to  conquer."     This  long  and  hard  experiment  proves 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  43 

that  Christianity  is  formed  for  all  trials,  and  will  sur- 
vive all  enemies.  It  is  the  privilege  of  our  age  to 
appreciate  the  evidence  of  this  with  a  degree  of  satis- 
faction peculiar  to  itself. 

But  how  different  this  sublime  immutahility  of 
Christianity,  so  much  like  the  eternity  of  God,  from 
the  childish  fickleness  of  infidelity.  "What  is  the  his- 
tory of  infidelity  but  a  history  of  changes  ?  Where  is 
the  resemblance  between  the  writings  of  its  modern  and 
those  of  its  ancient  disciples?  What  Celsus  and  Por- 
phyry attempted  to  maintain  against  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, none  at  present  would  think  of  advocating; 
while  the  positions  and  reasonings  of  recent  infidels 
would  have  been  subjects  of  ridicule  among  their 
earliest  bretliren.  ''  The  doctrines  wliich  Herbert  and 
Tindal  declared  to  bo  so  evident  that  God  could  not 
make  them  more  evident,  were  wholly  given  up  as 
untenable  by  Hume;  and  the  scepticism  of  Hume 
sustained  no  higher  character  in  the  mind  of  D'Alem- 
bert.  Mere  infidelity  gave  up  natural  religion,  and 
Atheism  mere  infidelity.  Atheism  is  the  system  at 
present  in  vogue.  What  will  succeed  it,  cannot  be 
foreseen.  One  consolation  however  attends  the  sub- 
ject, and  that  is.  No  other  system  can  be  so  ground- 
less, so  despicable,  or  so  completely  ruinous  to  the 
morals  and  happiness  of  mankind."* 

But  there  is  another  aspect  in  which  the  study  of 
the  evidences  of  Cluistianity  is  presented  as  especially 
interesting,  in  connection  with  the  present  age.     This 

*  See  the  two  sermons  on  the  Nature  and  Danger  of  Infidel 
Philosophy,  by  the  late  Rev.  Theodore  Dwight,  D.  D 


44  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

is  an  age  peculiarly  distinguished  for  scientific  re- 
search and  discovery.  Never  did  science  travel  so 
widely,  explore  so  deeply,  analyze  so  minutely,  com- 
pare so  critically  the  present  with  the  past,  principles 
with  facts,  histories  of  ancient  times  with  monuments 
of  ancient  things,  truths  of  revealed  religion  with  re- 
sults of  experimental  philosophy.  And  what  is  the 
consequence?  Has  the  Pentateuch  suffered  by  him 
who  found  the  key,  and  applied  it  to  the  hieroglyphi- 
cal  memorials  on  the  marbles  and  porphyries  of 
Egypt?  Did  the  geological  researches  of  the  lament- 
ed Cuvier  enfeeble  his  belief  in  the  Mosaic  history  ?* 
I  venture  to  say  there  never  was  an  age  in  which 
it  could  be  asserted,  with  so  much  practical  witness, 
that  science  and  every  extension  of  human  knowledge 
are  strengthening  and  multiplying  the  evidences  of 
Christianity.  Add  to  this  the  ever  accumulating 
force  of  the  argument  from  prophecy,  a  source  of 
evidence  in  which  we  exceed  by  far  the  primitive 

*  It  is  an  interesting  fact,  well  worthy  of  being  recorded, 
that  Cuvier,  whose  death  has  been  recently  announced,  was  to 
have  presided  at  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  Bible  Society 
of  Paris — 1832  ;  and  had  proposed  as  the  topic  of  his  address, 
"  The  agreement  between  the  Mosaic  history  and  the  modern  dis- 
coveries in  geology. ^^ 

Since  the  above  lecture  was  delivered,  what  a  deep  and 
rich  mine  of  antiquarian  research  has  been  opened  on  the  sites 
of  the  ancient  cities  of  Assyria,  with  which  so  much  of  the 
historical  books,  as  well  as  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, are  concerned.  It  is  not  enough  to  say,  that  nothing  in 
the  least  at  variance  with  these  writings  has  been  discovered. 
Much  has  been  brought  to  light  in  strong  and  striking  confirma- 
tion of  these  writings. 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  45 

times  of  the  gospel,  and  which  must  be  increasing  as 
long  as  one  prediction  of  the  Bible  remains  to  be  ful- 
filled. Then  consider  what  new  exhibitions  the  pres- 
ent age  of  signal  enterprise  in  all  things  has  furnished 
and  is  daily  presenting,  of  the  power  attendant  upon 
the  gospel  to  overcome  every  obstacle,  and  make  the 
moral  desert  a  garden,  and  savages  meek  and  lowly 
of  heart.  Look  at  the  missionary  stations  of  the  Pa- 
cific and  of  Hindoostan,  and  among  our  own  frontier 
tribes.  There  it  will  be  seen  that  Christianity  has 
still  her  apostles,  her  martyrs,  her  conquests.  The 
idol  cast  to  the  ground  ;  the  idol-temple  purged  of  its 
pollutions,  and  consecrated  to  Jehovah ;  the  multi- 
tude, once  naked  devotees  of  demons,  now  clothed 
and  in  their  right  mind,  and  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus — these  are  some  of  our  additional  testimonies 
to  the  gospel,  that  her  arm  is  not  shortened  that  it 
cannot  save.  But  they  are  not  all.  Every  new 
traveller  into  regions  hitherto  but  little  known,  as  he 
developes  the  condition  of  nations  destitute  of  the 
gospel,  increases  our  evidence  of  the  utter  helpless- 
ness of  human  reason,  and  the  total  prostration  of  hu- 
man nature,  without  the  light  which  we  enjoy;  and 
consequently,  our  evidence  of  the  universal  need  of  a 
revelation  like  ours,  as  well  as  of  the  benefits  which 
have  followed  in  the  train  of  Christianity  wherever 
she  has  been  received.  And  last,  but  not  least,  our 
experience  of  the  tender  mercies  of  infidelity  is  more 
impressive  than  that  of  preceding  ages.  Its  nature, 
spirit,  personal  and  public  consequences  have  now  had 
time  to  speak  out,  and  make  a  full  display  of  their 


46  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

benefits  to  all  classes  of  mankind.  Our  times  have  seen 
enough,  any  of  us  have  heard  enough  to  form  some 
adequate  idea  of  what  society  would  be  favored  with, 
in  personal  consolations,  in  domestic  peace  and  pu- 
rity, in  public  security  and  order,  should  the  princi- 
ples of  infidelity  be  generally  adopted  as  the  basis  of 
individual,  family,  and  national  government. 

I  have  now  endeavored  to  illustrate  the  impor- 
tance of  a  diligent  attention  to  the  great  subject  we 
have  undertaken  to  treat,  by  considerations  arising 
out  of  its  own  intrinsic  nature,  and  from  its  special 
aspect  as  associated  with  the  distinctive  character  of 
the  present  age.  I  will  occupy  but  a  little  while 
longer  in  speaking  of, 

11.  The  importance  of  strict  attention  to  the 
SPIRIT  in  which  we  should  examine  the  evidences  of 
Christianity. 

''  Blessed,"  said  the  Saviour,  *^  is  he  whosoever 
shall  not  be  offended  in  me."  There  is  a  great  deal 
in  the  religion  of  Jesus  at  which  the  natural  dispo- 
sitions of  man  are  offended.  He  is  proud — the  gos- 
pel demands  humility;  revengeful — the  gospel  de- 
mands forgiveness.  Man  is  prone  to  set  his  affections 
on  things  on  the  earth ;  the  gospel  requires  him  to  set 
them  on  those  which  are  above.  He  is  wedded  to 
self-indulgence,  glories. in  being  his  own  master,  idol- 
izes himself,  encourages  self-dependence,  boasts  his 
own  goodness,  lives  without  God  in  the  world.  All 
this  the  gospel  peremptorily  condemns  ;  requires  him 
to  repent  of  it,  to  deny  himself,  renounce  all  right 
over  himself,  give  up  his  will  to  that  of  God,  live  for 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  47 

the  Lord  Jesus,  and  lean  upon  and  glory  in  him  ajone 
as  all  his  strength,  hope,  and  righteousness.  Hence 
it  is  evident  that  the  natural  heart  and  the  precepts 
of  Christianity  are  directly  at  variance.  "  The  mys- 
tery of  an  incarnate  and  crucified  Saviour  must  ne- 
cessarily confound  the  reason  and  shock  the  preju- 
dices of  a  mind  which  will  admit  nothing  that  it  can- 
not perfectly  reduce  to  the  principles  of  philosophy. 
The  whole  tenor  of  the  life  of  Christ,  the  objects  he 
pursued,  and  the  profound  humiliation  he  exhibited, 
must  convict  of  madness  and  folly  the  favorite  pur- 
suits of  mankind.  The  virtues  usually  practised  in 
society,  and  the  models  of  excellence  most  admired 
there,  are  so  remote  from  that  holiness  which  is  en- 
joined in  the  New  Testament,  that  it  is  impossible  for 
a  taste  which  is  formed  on  the  one  to  perceive  the 
charms  of  the  other.  The  happiness  which  it  pro- 
poses in  a  union  with  God  and  a  participation  of  the 
image  of  Christ,  is  so  far  from  being  congenial  to  the 
inclinations  of  worldly  men,  that  it  can  scarcely  be 
mentioned  without  exciting  their  ridicule  and  scorn. 
General  speculations  on  the  Deity  have  much  to 
amuse  the  mind,  and  to  gratify  that  appetite  for  the 
wonderful  which  thoughtful  and  speculative  men  are 
delighted  to  indulge.  Religion  viewed  in  this  light 
appears  more  in  the  form  of  an  exercise  to  the  under- 
standing, than  a  law  to  the  heart.  Here  the  soul 
expatiates  at  large,  without  feeling  itself  controlled  or 
alarmed.  But  when  evangelical  truths  are  presented, 
they  bring  God  so  near,  if  we  may  be  allowed  the 
expression,  and  speak  with  so  commanding  a  voice  to 


48  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  conscience,  that  they  leave  no  alternative  but  that 
of  submissive  acquiescence  or  proud  revolt."* 

Hence,  the  question  as  to  the'  truth  of  Christianity- 
is  peculiar.  You  can  investigate  the  truth  of  a  nar- 
rative in  common  history,  or  of  a  phenomenon  in 
physical  science,  or  of  a  principle  of  political  economy, 
with  the  coolness  of  a  mere  intellectual  exercise.  One 
sets  out  in  such  pursuits  with  no  feelings  already 
enlisted.  Had  this  been  the  case  with  regard  to  the 
divine  origin  of  Christianity,  "  a  tenth  part  of  the 
testimony  which  has  actually  been  given,  would 
have  been  enough  to  satisfy  us  ;  the  testimony,  both 
in  weight  and  quantity,  would  have  been  looked  upon 
as  quite  unexampled  in  the  whole  compass  of  ancient 
literature."^  But  here  the  question  is  one  of  feeling, 
as  well  as  evidence — enlisting  the  heart,  as  well  as 
the  head.  Powerful  dispositions  crowd  around  the 
investigation.  Hence  one  is  in  danger,  unless  his 
natural  inclinations  be  subdued,  of  looking  at  the 
argument  through  a  medium  which,  while  it  dimin- 
ishes the  importance  of  the  evidence,  will  magnify 
the  objections.  This  explains  sufficiently  how  it  has 
happened  that  there  have  been  men  of  learning  and 
talents  and  much  practical  wisdom,  in  many  depart- 
ments, who  have  become  and  continued  unbelievers. 
Their  dispositions  were  stronger  than  their  talents, 
and  moulded  the  latter  to  their  own  service,  instead 
of  yielding  to  their  guidance. .  The  examination  was 
conducted  rather  by  the  test  of  inclination,  than  of 
evidence.  Now  it  is  no  part  of  the  profession  of 
*  Robert  Hall.  t  Chalmers 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  49 

Christianity  to  furnish  eyes  to  those  who  will  not  see. 
Evidence  that  will  force  its  way  irresistibly  through 
prejudice  and  unwillingness,  compelling  submission, 
she  does  not  promise.  Enough  to  satisfy  abundantly 
every  candid,  serious,  diligent,  humble  inquirer,  she 
does  profess  to  give.  If  she  ever  exhibit  more,  it  is 
beyond  her  stipulation,  and  more  than  any  have 
reason  to  demand. 

The  pride  of  human  reason  is  often  deeply 
offended  at  the  claims  of  Christianity.  The  gospel 
demands  to  be  received  as  a  revelation  of  truth,  com- 
municated by  authority,  so  that  a  wise  man  shall 
have  no  room  to  ascribe  his  knowledge  of  God  and 
of  his  will  to  his  own  powers  of  discovery;  but  has 
to  sit,  just  where  the  ignorant  and  lowly  must  sit,  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus.  This  pleases  not  the  speculative 
and  ambitious  turn  of  the  human  intellect.  Men 
like  to  find  out  truth  by  reasonings  of  their  own, 
rather  than  by  the  authoritative  declarations  of 
another,  even  though  that  other  be  infallible  wisdom. 
They  love  to  theorize  and  conjecture,  and  try  the 
ingenuity  of  their  own  faculties,  so  as  to  praise  them- 
selves for  whatever  is  ascertained.  Hence,  in  matters 
of  science,  there  was  a  long  and  hard  struggle  before 
they  could  be  brought  down  from  the  proud  flights  of 
speculation,  and  consent  to  the  self-denial  of  the 
inductive  method,  submitting  to  be  instructed  only 
by  the  revelations  of  experiment  and  in  the  unpre- 
tending school  of  fact.  To  adopt  the  same  method 
in  matters  of  religious  investigation,  many  are  not  yet 
willing.      To  give   up   all   speculation — jMlosophy^ 


60  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

*' falsely  so  called" — and  consent  to  receive,  instead 
of  being  ambitious  to  discover,  religious  truth;  to 
receive  it  at  a  source  where  the  humblest  and  the  lof- 
tiest mind  must  drink  together  out  of  the  same  cup ; 
to  receive  it  on  the  simple  testimony  of  a  w^ell-at- 
tested  revelation,  which  lies  as  open  to  the  peasant  as 
the  philosopher,  this  the  wise  men  of  the  world  are 
slow  of  heart  to  consent  to.  Their  pride  of  reason  is 
offended.  Did  an  account  come  to  them  from  the 
other  continent  of  certain  novel  and  interesting  phe- 
nomena recently  observed  in  the  heavens,  they 
would  see  at  once  how  unphilosophical  it  would  be  to 
commence  theorizing  upon  the  question  of  their  truth, 
and  then  reject  them  because  inconsistent  with  cer- 
tain previqjis  speculations  of  their  own.  They  would 
institute  but  the  one  inquiry,  Is  there  reason  to  de- 
pend upon  the  accuracy  of  the  observations,  and  the 
honesty  of  the  reports  of  those  from  w^hom  these  state- 
ments proceed?  Satisfied  on  this  head,  they  would 
at  once  receive  the  phenomena,  and  every  truth  re- 
sulting therefrom,  on  the  great  principle  of  modern 
science,  that  whatever  is  thus  collected  by  induction 
must  be  received,  notwithstanding'  any  conjectural 
hypothesis  to  the  contrary,  until  contradicted  or 
limited  by  other  phenomena  equally  authenticated. 
Now  we  only  ask  them  not  to  disown  the  philosophy 
of  Newton  in  examining  the  evidence  of  the  religion 
of  Christ;  to  try  the  celestial  w^onders,  the  '' me- 
canique  celeste''^  as  given  by  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
not  by  theory  or  speculation,  but  precisely  as  they 
would  try  any  other,  in  the  open  field  of  fact  and 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  51 

induction.  We  do  not  ask  them  to  believe,  unless 
upon  the  credit  of  facts.  But  we  do  ask,  that  what- 
ever is  thus  proved  they  will  receive,  notwithstand- 
ing any  conjectural  hypothesis  to  the  contrary.  The 
whole  argument  for  Christianity,  so  far  from  being  in 
any  degree  theoretical  or  speculative,  is  eminently 
one  of  experimental  evidence  and  inductive  sim- 
plicity. We  take  the  position  that  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  professed  to  make  a  revelation  from  God.  It 
is  conceded  that  if  he  attested  his  communications 
by  miracles,  he  sealed  that  profession  as  true.  We 
say  he  did  thus  attest  them.  But  miracles  are  facts, 
phenomena,  to  be  proved  by  the  testimony  of  eye- 
witnesses, like  any  phenomena  in  physics.  To  such 
testimony  we  appeal.  We  ask  the  unbeliever  to 
refute  it ;  and  if  he  cannot,  to  receive  the  revelation, 
and  bow  to  its  declarations  as  the  attested  word  of 
God.  But  here,  unfortunately,  we  set  the  rule  of 
sound  philosophy  against  the  dispositions  of  an 
unhumbled  heart.  The  latter  has  the  victory  often, 
and  the  wise  man  goes  to  work  to  oppose  our  facts 
with  his  theories,  our  testimony  with  his  specu- 
lations, till  he  flatters  himself,  because  he  has  covered 
up  his  eyes  in  his  own  mazes,  that  he  has  refuted 
the  evidences  of  Christianity.  Hence,  therefore,  an- 
other cause  that  learned  men  are  not  all  believers 
in  Christianity.  They  are  not  all  humble  enough, 
in  a  question  with  which  heart  and  life  are  so  much 
connected,  to  abide  by  the  results  to  which  the 
principles  of  philosophical  investigation  would  natu- 
rally lead  fhem.     But  hence,  also,  a  most  important 


62  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

reason  that  whoever  of  you  may  have  doubts  as  to 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  should,  in  the  pursuit  on  which 
we  have  entered,  be  cautious,  candid,  ready  to  learn, 
and  determined  to  embrace  the  truth  wherever  it 
should  be  found. 

One  consideration  more.  It  is  true  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  of  many  other  excellent  subjects,  that 
objections  are  more  easily  invented  than  ansioered. 
Objections  in  such  matters  are  usually  light  affairs, 
floating  on  the  surface  of  men's  thoughts.  Answers, 
to  be  solid,  must  be  heavier  and  lie  deeper,  requiring, 
like  the  pearl,  both  labor  and  skill  to  bring  them  up 
and  fashion  them  for  use.  But  Christianity  is  pe- 
culiarly exposed  to  objections,  from  the  simple  fact 
that  as  it  meets  every  body  and  compels  every  body 
to  say  yea  or  nay  to  its  requirements,  every  body 
must  needs  have  something  to  say,  however  un- 
reasonable, in  its  favor  or  against  it.  Few  indeed 
would  venture  to  give  an  opinion,  without  some 
study,  on  a  question  in  science  or  polite  literature ; 
but  the  most  ignorant  and  unthinking  will  undertake 
an  opinion  upon  the  merits  of  the  gospel,  and  raise 
an  objection  in  a  breath  which  would  require  much 
patience  and  some  learning  to  refute.  Hundreds 
hear  the  objection ;  thousands  relish,  retain,  and  are 
poisoned  by  it ;  while  perhaps  not  one  of  them  has 
the  disposition  to  hear,  or  patience  enough  to  under- 
stand, the  reply.  Evil  hearts  can  do  what  only  good 
and  well-instructed  minds  can  undo.  '*  Pertness  and 
ignorance  may  ask  a  question  in  three  lines,  which 
it  will  cost  learning  and  ingenuity  thirty  pages  to 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  55 

answer.  When  this  is  done,  the  same  question  will 
be  triumphantly  asked  again  the  next  year,  as  if 
nothing  had  ever  been  written  on  the  subject.  And 
as  people  in  general,  for  one  reason  or  another,  like 
short  objections  better  than  long  answers,  in  this 
mode  of  disputation,  if  it  can  be  styled  such,  the 
odds  must  ever  be  against  us ;  and  we  must  be  con- 
tent with  those  for  our  friends  who  have  honesty  and 
erudition,  candor  and  patience,  to  study  both  sides 
of  the  question."* 

These  observations  explain  the  lamentable  fact, 
that  in  a  large  portion  of  society,  there  is  so  much 
more  acquaintance  \snth  the  cant  and  slang  of  infi- 
delity, than  with  the  reasonings  in  support  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  that  our  young  men  are  often  so  familiar 
with  the  boasting  and  floating  calumnies  which  the 
troubled  sea  of  infidehty  is  ever  casting  up,  with  its 
mire  and  dirt,  in  the  face  of  the  gospel ;  while,  with 
the  innumerable  efforts  by  which  Christian  science  has 
scattered  all  such  poisonous  exhalations  to  the  winds, 
many  have  not  the  most  trifling  acquaintance. 

All  these  considerations  are  at  least  sufficient  to 
impress  us  with  the  eminent  importance  of  the  most 
serious  attention  to  the  spirit  and  manner  in  which 
one  proceeds  in  the  study  of  the  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Let  me  urgently  recommend  docility^  in  this  pur- 
suit. By  this,  I  mean  nothing  resembling  credulity  ; 
hut  an  open-hearted  and  humble-minded  readiness  to 
weigh  evidence  with  simplicity  of  purpose  in  the 
•  Home's  Letters  on  Infidelity. 


54  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

most  even  scales  of  truth ;  and  then  to  submit  to,  and 
follow  the  truth,  wherever  it  may  lead,  with  single- 
ness of  heart,  in  the  fear  of  God. 

Let  me  also  recommend  a  deep  seriousness  of 
purpose^  in  this  pursuit.  I  mean  that  calm  and  set- 
tled earnestness  of  mind,  which  a  just  sense  of  the 
unspeakable  importance  of  the  subject,  and  of  the 
responsibility  under  which  all,  even  the  most  indiffer- 
ent, must  treat  it,  will  necessarily  inspire. 

Lastly,  prayer  is  by  all  means  to  be  employed  in 
this  pursuit.  It  is  written  most  wisely,  ^*  If  any  man 
lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  Grod."  But  do  I  forget 
that  I  am  speaking  from  the  chair  of  a  lecture-room, 
instead  of  the  pulpit  of  a  church  ?  Prayer  !  How  do 
I  know  but  that  I  am  addressing  many  who  are 
already  on  the  side  of  infidelity?  Would  I  say  to 
them,  study  the  evidences  of  Christianity  with 
prayer  ?  Is  it  not  equivalent  to  begging  the  ques- 
tion? Is  it  not  asking  them  to  do  what,  as  pro- 
fessors of  infidelity,  they  object  to  ?  In  one  sense, 
I  verily  believe  it  is  begging  the  question.  A  spirit 
of  serious,  earnest  prayer  for  the  knowledge  of 
truth,  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  in- 
fidelity. Who  does  not  feel  the  singularity  involved 
in  the  idea  of  seeing  a  thorough  infidel  engaged 
in  secret,  earnest  prayer  to  be  preserved  from  all 
bias  in  search  of  truth,  and  to  be  led  in  the  way 
in  which  God  would  have  him  to  go?  And  yet,  if 
he  be  not  an  Atheist,  he  can  have  nothing  to  say 
against  the  propriety  of  such  a  step.  But  is  it  true 
that  infidelity  and  the  spirit  of  prayer  are  practically 


INTRODUCTORY  OBSERVATIONS.  65 

SO  inconsistent?  Is  it  true  that  we  have  already 
accoiuplished  at  least  half  our  work  of  conviction, 
when  we  have  persuaded  an  unbeliever  to  mak(3 
religious  truth  a  subject  of  serious  supplication  at  the 
throne  of  grace  ?  What  does  this  say  for  the  gospel  ? 
The  man  who  is  desirous  of  being  allowed  to 
remain  in  unbelief  will  not  seek  a  spirit  of  prayer. 
He  would  not  like  to  ask  God  for  what  might  break 
up  all  his  present  fancied  security.  But  if  any  one 
feels  that  he  lacks  wisdom,  in  this  great  concern  of 
eternity,  and  desires  to  know  the  way  of  light  and 
life,  **  let  him  ask  of  God,  who  giveth  to  all  men  lib- 
erally, and  upbraideth  not ;  and  it  shall  be  given 
him."     James  1 :  5. 


56  M^ILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 


LECTURE   II. 

AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

Our  last  lecture  was  only  introductory  to  the 
important  subject  to  which  I  have  undertaken  to  lead 
your  attention.  In  the  present,  we  enter  directly 
upon  one  of  its  principal  branches. 

The  study  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity  may 
be  either  brief  or  extended,  according  to  the  object 
with  which  it  is  pursued.  If  it  be  merely  the  pos- 
session of  some  one  distinct  and  conclusive  train  of 
reasoning,  perfect  in  itself,  the  investigation  may 
soon  be  ended.  The  student  may  take  any  single 
miracle  or  fulfilled  prophecy ;  he  may  choose  his 
premises  from  the  narrative  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  or  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul,  or  the  propaga- 
tion of  Christianity,  and  confining  his  argument  to 
the  point  selected,  may  deduce  a  finished  proof  of  the 
divine  authority  of  the  gospel.  But  if  he  desire  not 
only  rational  satisfaction  for  his  own  mind,  but  a  full 
view  of  all  those  great  highways  of  evidence  which, 
from  every  quarter,  concentrate  upon  Christianity — 
if  he  would  behold,  not  only  that  it  is  capable  of  con- 
clusive proof,  but  how  variously  and  wonderfully  its 
divine  Author  has  encompassed  it  with  proo'fs  of 
every  kind,  drawn  from  innumerable  sources,  and 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      5/ 

prepared  at  all  points  for  every  objection,  he  may  lay 
himself  out  for  a  work  of  extensive  research,  as  well 
as  of  rich  gratification  and  improvement. 

The  evidences  of  Christianity  are  classed  under 
two  general  denominations,  external  or  historical, 
and  internal  evidence.  Under  the  latter,  are  in- 
cluded whatever  proofs  of  divine  original  may  be 
drawn  from  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel;  its  incom- 
parable system  of  morality ;  the  adaptation  of  the 
religion  of  Christ  to  the  condition  and  wants  of  man- 
kind ;  the  holy  and  elevated  character  of  its  Founder ; 
together  with  all  those  incidental,  but  striking  and 
various  marks  of  uprightness,  accuracy,  and  benevo- 
lence, which  appear  in  the  spirit  and  manner  of  the 
New  Testament  writers,  or  which  are  seen  by  a  com- 
parison of  their  several  books  one  with  another. . 
Such  are  the  principal  heads  of  internal  evidence. 
Under  the  name  of  external  or  historical  evidence, 
we  find  whatever  exhibits  the  need  of  a  revelation,  as 
apparent  in  the  state  of  opinion  and  practice  among 
the  most  enlightened  nations  at  the  commencement 
of  the  gospel ;  the  argument  establishing  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  credibility  of  the 
history  contained  therein ;  the  proofs  arising  from 
miracles,  from  fulfilled  prophecy,  from  the  propaga- 
tion of  Christianity,  and  from  the  social  and  personal 
benefits  which  have  always  accompanied  its  pro- 
motion, according  to  the  degree  in  which  its  native 
character  and  influence  have  had  room  to  appear. 
Such  are  the  principal  heads  of  external  evidence. 

The  present  course  of  lectures,  for  want  of  time  to 
3* 


68  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

carry  it  further,*  will  be  confined  to  the  department 
last  described;  which  is  chosen  in  preference  to  the 
other,  not  because  it  is  more  important  or  conchisive, 
but  as  more  capable  of  having  justice  done  it  in  a 
series  of  discussions  such  as  that  to  which  the  cir- 
cumstances of  these  lectures  restrict  us. 

Should  we  embrace  in  our  view  of  this  grand 
division  of  evidence  whatever  belongs  to  it,  your  atten- 
tion would  first  be  called  to  the  indispensable  necessity 
of  a  divine  revelation^  as  the  history  of  the  ancient 
world  displays  it,  and  as  it  is  still  exhibited  in  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth.  This  however  we  have  not 
room  to  include  in  our  course.  Though  extremely 
impressive  and  worthy  of  investigation,  it  is  not  an 
essential  argument.  The  straightforward  method  of 
philosophical  inquiry  directs  its  attention  to  the  testi- 
mony simply  that  an  event  did  occur,  and  will  not 
suspend  assent  till  the  need  of  such  an  event  shall 
have  been  fully  explained.  If  convincing  evidence 
be  adduced  to  the  matter  of  fact  that  a  revelation  has 
been  giveii^  we  may  be  reasonably  content,  while  our 
limits  forbid  the  proof  that  it  was  needed.  Whoever 
may  desire  to  read  on  this  head  will  find  it  well  dis- 
cussed in  the  first  volume  of  Lectures  on  the  Evi- 
dences, etc.,  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  "Wilson,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Calcutta;  or  in  the  admirable  letters  on  the 
same  subject,  by  Olinthus  Oregory,  LL.  D.,  Professor 

*  See  the  Bible  Not  of  Man,  or  the  Argument  for  the  Di- 
vine Origin  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  drawn  from  the  Scriptures 
themselves.  By  Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D.  Amer.  Tract 
Society. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TEbTAMENT.      59 

of  Mathematics  in  the  Royal  Military  Academy  at 
Woolwich,*  one  of  the  most  scientific  and  pious  lay- 
men of  the  age;  or  more  at  large  in  the  learned  vol- 
ume of  Leland,  on  the  Advantages  and  Necessity  of 
a  Divine  Revelation. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  authenticity  of  the  New 
Testament.  We  possess  a  venerable  volume  under 
this  title,  consisting  of  twenty-seven  independent 
books  or  writings,  reputed  to  have  been  composed  by 
eight  different  authors.  It  professes  to  contain,  and 
is  continually  appealed  to  as  containing,  not  only  an 
accurate  account  of  the  history  and  doctrine  of  Jesus 
Christ,  but  an  account  written  in  the  first  age  of 
Christianity  by  its  earliest  disciples  and  advocates, 
who  were  contemporaneous  with  its  author,  and  were 
most  of  them  eye-witnesses  of  the  events  related. 
Now,  before  we  can  be  reasonably  warranted  in  placing 
implicit  reliance  in  the  New  Testament,  as  the  book 
of  the  facts  and  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  two  important 
questions  must  be  determined.  First,  Is  there  satis- 
factory evidence  that  the  several  writings  of  which 
it  is  composed  were  written  by  the  men  to  whom  they 
are  ascribed?  This  involves  the  authenticity  of  the 
New  Testament.  Secondly,  Is  the  New  Testament 
deserving  of  implicit  reliance  as  to  matters  of  his- 
torical detail,  so  that  we  may  receive  any  narrative 
as  unquestionably  true,  because  contained  therein? 
This  refers  to  the  credibility  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

Thus  you  perceive,  that  whether  a  volume  be 
authentic,  and  whether  credible,  are  two  widely  sep- 


60  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

arate  questions,  neither  necessarily  implying  the 
other,  however  the  evidence  of  one  may  hear  upon  the 
proof  of  the  other.  Writings  may  be  authentic^  com- 
posed by  the  men  whose  names  they  bear,  and  yet 
not  credible.  They  may  be  credible^  because  correct 
in  their  statements,  and  yet  not  authentic.  The 
question  of  authenticity  refers  to  the  author;  that 
of  credibility  to  the  narrative.  "  The  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress" is  authentic,  because  it  was  actually  composed 
by  John  Bunyan,  to  whom  it  is  ascribed;  though, 
being  an  allegory  throughout,  it  is  credible  only  as 
to  the  truthfulness  of  its  spiritual  meaning.  The 
book  entitled,  "Travels  of  Anacharsis  the  Younger," 
is  credible  so  far  as  it  exhibits  a  view  of  the  anti- 
quities, manners,  customs,  religious  ceremonies,  etc., 
of  ancient  Greece;  but  it  is  not  authentic,  having 
been  written  in  the  eighteenth  century  by  Barthe- 
lemy,  and  fictitiously  ascribed  to  the  Scythian  phi- 
losopher. *' Marshall's  Life  of  Washington"  is  both 
authentic  and  credible,  being  a  true  history,  and  wor- 
thily honored  with  the  name  of  that  eminent  and  ex- 
cellent man  from  whose  pen  it  professes  to  have  come. 
That  the  New  Testament  is  also  authentic  and  cred- 
ible, we  undertake  to  show.  We  exclude  the  more 
ancient  portion  of  the  sacred  volume,  not  because  of 
any  deficiency  in  its  evidence,  but  for  the  sake  of 
unity  and  clearness  in  our  inquiries;  and  because, 
when  the  argument  for  the  New  Testament  is  set 
forth  in  a  conclusive  form,  the  authenticity  and  cred- 
ibility of  the  other  is  rendered,  as  will  hereafter  ap- 
pear, a  necessary  inference.     The  two  questions  will 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      61 

be  the  subjects  of  different  lectures.  To  that  of  au- 
thenticity  our  attention  will  this  evening  be  confined. 
Let  us  begin  with  the  following: 

How  does  it  appear  that  the  several  writings 
composing  the  volume  of  the  New  Testament  were 
written  by  the  men  to  whom  they  are  ascribed^  the 
original  disciples  of  Christ,  and  are  consequently 
authentic? 

Wc  pursue  precisely  the  same  method  in  deter- 
mining the  authorship  of  the  New  Testament,  as  in 
ascertaining  that  of  any  other  book  of  a  past  age. 
For  example,  we  possess  a  celebrated  poem  entitled 
Paradise  Lost.  It  bears  the  name  of  Milton.  How 
do  we  know  that  Milton  composed  it?  The  answer 
is  easy.  Our  fathers  received  it,  as  his  production, 
^rom  their  fathers,  and  they  from  theirs.  By  such 
steps  we  ascend  to  the  very  year  in  which  the  book 
was  first  published,  and  find  it  invariably  ascribed  to 
Milton.  Moreover,  the  history  of  the  age  in  which  ho 
lived  speaks  of  it  as  unquestionably  and  notoriously 
his  work.  Writers  of  every  succeeding  age  refer  to 
and  quote  it,  as  well  known  to  be  his.  The  language 
of  the  poem  bears  the  characteristic  marks  of  Milton's 
times.  Its  spirit,  genius,  and  style  display  the  dis- 
tinctive features  of  Milton's  mind  and  character.  And 
finally,  though  Milton  had  many  enemies,  and  lived 
in  a  time  of  great  divisions,  and  this  poem  redounded 
greatly  to  his  praise,  and  many  must  have  been  dis- 
posed, had  they  been  able,  to  discover  some  false  pre- 
tensions in  his  claim  to  its  authorship,  no  other  person 
in  that  age  wais  ever  mentioned  as  disputing  his  title ; 


62  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

but  all  united  in  acknowledging  him  as  the  writer  ol 
Paradise  Lost.  On  this  evidence,  although  the  poem 
professes  to  have  been  written  as  far  back  as  the 
year  1674,  we  are  so  perfectly  certain  of  its  authen- 
ticity, that  the  man  who  should  dispute  it  would  be 
justly  suspected  of  idiocy  or  mental  derangement. 
And  had  Milton  lived  in  the  seventh,  instead  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  a  similar  body  of  evidence  would 
have  been  equally  satisfactory.  If,  instead  of  the 
seventh  century,  he  had  lived  in  the  first  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  similar  evidence,  reaching  up  to  his  time, 
would  still  prove  beyond  a  question  that  he  wrote 
Paradise  Lost.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  time  has  no 
effect  to  impair  the  force  of  such  proof.  Whether  a 
book  be  ascribed  to  the  Christian  era,  or  to  five  cen- 
turies before  or  after,  the  evidence  being  the  same,  it 
is  equally  satisfactory.  It  as  well  convinces  us  that 
the  history  ascribed  to  Herodotus,  in  the  fifth  century 
before  Christ,  was  written  by  that  historian,  as  that 
the  iEneid  was  written  by  Virgil  a  little  before  the 
birth  of  Christ,  or  the  '*  Faerie  Queene"  by  Spenser, 
in  the  fifteen  hundred  and  ninetieth  year  after  that 
event.  We  are  no  less  satisfied  of  the  authenticity 
of  the  orations  of  Demosthenes,  than  of  that  of  New- 
ton's Principia,  though  between  the  dates  of  their 
publication  there  is  an  interval  of  more  than  two  thou- 
sand years.  So  little  does  the  age  of  a  book  affect 
the  evidence  required  to  establish  its  authenticity. 

Now,  in  ascertaining  the  authorship  of  the  New 
Testament,  we  are  furnished  with  evidence  precisely 
similar  to  that  which  settles  the  question  so  conclu- 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      63 

sively  as  to  either  of  the  works  above-mentioned.* 
An  unbroken  chain  of  testimony  ascends  from  the 
present  generation  to  the  preceding,  and  thence  to 
the  next  beyond,  and  thence  onward  again  till  it 
reaches  the  very  age  of  the  apostles,  exhibiting  an 
uninterrupted  series  of  acknowledgments  of  the  New 
Testament,  as  having  been  written  indeed  by  those 
primitive  disciples  to  whom  its  several  parts  are  as- 
cribed. Besides  this,  historians  and  other  writers  of 
the  age  ascribed  to  this  volume,  as  well  heathen  and 
Jewish  as  Christian,  not  only  recognize  its  existence 
in  their  day,  but  speak  of  it  as  notoriously  the  pro- 
duction of  its  reputed  authors.  The  language  is 
characteristic  of  their  age,  nation,  and  circumstances. 
The  style  and  spirit  exhibit  the  well-known  peculiar- 
ities of  their  respective  minds  and  dispositions.  And 
again,  although  the  New  Testament  at  the  time  of 
its  first  appearance,  either  in  parts  or  collectively,  was 
sut-rounded  with  numerous,  learned,  and  ingenious, 
as  well  as  most  bitter  enemies,  both  among  heathens 
and  Jews;  and  although  there  arose  at  an  early  pe- 
riod many  animated  controversies  between  the  real 
believers  in  gospel  truth,  on  one  side,  and  sundry 
heretical  pretenders  to  the  Christian  faith,  whose 
cause  would  often  have  been  materially  served  by  a 
well-sustained  denial  of  the  authenticity  of  certain 

*  "We  know,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "the  writings  of  the 
apostles,  as  we  know  the  works  of  Plato,  Aristotle,  Cicero, 
Varro,  and  others,  and  as  we  know  the  writings  of  divers  ec- 
clesiastical authors;  for  as  much  as  they  have  the  testimony 
of  contemporaries,  and  of  those  who  have  lived  in  succeeding 


64  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  none  in  the 
primitive  ages,  whether  heretics  or  open  enemies,  ever 
denied  that  this  volume  contained  the  genuine  writ- 
ings of  the  original  apostles  and  disciples  of  Christ. 
On  the  contrary,  all  received,  argued,  and  acted  upon 
it  as  unquestionably  authentic.  Thus  we  have  the 
same  evidence  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
were  written  by  those  whose  names  they  bear,  as 
that  Paradise  Lost  was  written  by  the  man  whose 
name  it  bears.  The  force  of  this  evidence  is  in  no 
wise  diminished  by  the  consideration  that  the  apos- 
tles lived  in  the  first,  and  Milton  in  the  seventeenth 
century. 

Thus  have  you  received  a  general  outline  of  the 
argument.     We  proceed  to  a  more  particular  view. 

The  books  of  the  New  Testament  are  quoted 
or  alluded  to  by  a  series  of  writers  who  may  be 
followed  up  in  unbroken  succession  from  the  pres- 
ENT AGE  TO  THAT  OF  THE  APOSTLES.       In  prOof  of  this,  it 

is  unnecessary  for  the  satisfaction  of  any  person  of 
ordinary  information  to  trace  the  line  of  testimony 
from  the  present  time,  or  from  any  point  of  departure 
lower  down  than  the  fourth  century.  Whoever  has 
the  least  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  the  civil- 
ized world  as  far  upward  as  the  fourth  century,  must 
know  that  the  acknowledgment  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, as  composed  of  authentic  writings,  is  inter- 
woven with  all  the  literature,  science,  and  political 
as  well  as  religious  institutions  of  every  subsequent 
age.  We  begin,  therefore,  the  chain  of  testimony  at 
the  fourth  century. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THK  NEW  TESTAMENT.      65 

It  is  a  very  impressive  evidence  of  the  high  esti- 
mate in  which  the  New  Testament  was  universally 
held  at  this  period,  that  besides  innumerable  quota- 
tions in  various  writings,  no  less  than  eleven  distinct, 
formal  catalogues  of  its  several  books  were  composed 
at  various  times  during  the  fourth  century  by  differ- 
ent hands;  and  two  of  them  by  large  and  solemn 
councils  of  the  heads  of  the  Christian  church.  All  of 
these  are  still  extant ;  and  all  agree  in  every  particu- 
lar important  to  the  present  argument,  with  the  list  of 
the  New  Testament  writings  as  at  present  received. 
In  the  year  397  a  national  or  provincial  council  as- 
sembled at.  Carthage,  consisting  of  forty-four  bishops — 
Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  was  a  member.  The 
forty-seventh  canon  of  that  council  is  thus  written: 
^'It  is  ordained  that  nothing  besides  the  canonical 
Scriptures  be  read  in  the  church  under  the  name  of 
divine  Scriptures;  and  the  canonical  Scriptures  are 
these,"  etc.  In  the  enumeration  we  find  precisely 
our  New  Testament  books,  and  no  more.* 

About  the  same  time  Augustine  wrote  a  book 
entitled,  ''  Of  the  Christian  Doctrine,"  in  which  is 
furnished  a  catalogue  of  what  he  considered  the 
authentic  writings  of  the  evangelists  and  apostles, 
agreeing  entirely  with  ours.  '*  In  these  books,"  saith 
he,  **  they  who  fear  G-od,  seek  his  will."^ 

A  short  time  before  this,  Rufinus,  a  presbyter  of 
Aquileia,  published  an  "  Explication  of  the  Apostle's 
Creed,"  in  which  he  includes  a  catalog-ue  of  the  Scrip- 

*  Lardners  Credibility  of  the  Gospel  History,  vol.  2,  p.  574 
t  Ibid.  vol.  2,  p.  578. 


66  li'ILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tures.  It  commences  thus :  ^'  It  will  not  be  im- 
proper to  enumerate  here  the  books  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  which  we  find  by  the  monuments 
of  the  fathers  to  have  been  delivered  to  the  churches, 
as  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  This  list  differs  in 
nothing  from  ours.* 

Jerome,  a  contemporaneous  writer,  universally 
allowed  to  have  been  the  most  learned  of  the  Latin 
fathers,  in  a  letter  concerning  the  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, enumerates  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
in  precise  correspondence  with  our  volume.  With 
regard  to  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  he  states  that 
by  some  it  was  not  considered  as  the  work  of  Paul ; 
though  it  is  evident,  from  other  places  of  his  writ- 
ings, that  he  was  satisfied  of  its  authenticity,  and 
numbered  it  among  the  canonical  scriptures.^ 

In  the  year  380,  wrote  Philastrius,  bishop  of 
Brescia.  In  a  book  "  Concerning  Heresies,"  he  gives 
a  catalogue  agreeing  entirely  with  ours,  except  that  it 
omits  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  the  book  enti- 
tled the  Revelation  of  St.  John.  But  it  does  not 
follow  that  these  were  not  considered  canonical.  The 
object  of  his  catalogue  is  to  enumerate  the  books 
appointed  to  be  read  in  the  churches.  The  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  he  says,  was  read  in  the  churches 
**  sometimes."  *^  Some  pretend,"  he  writes,  ''that 
additions  have  been  made  to  it  by  some  heterodox 
persons,  and  that  for  that  reason  it  ought  not  to  be 
read  in  the  churches,  though  it  is  read  by  some." 
Philastrius  himself  received  it,  and  frequently  quoted 

*  Lardner,  vol.  2,  p.  573.  t  Ibid,  2,  548. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.      67 

it  as  the  work  of  St.  Paul,  and  reckoned  it  a  heresy 
to  reject  it.  He  received  also  the  Revelation  as  the 
work  of  John  the  evangelist,  mentioning  its  rejection 
by  some  as  among  the  heresies  of  the  age,  **  There 
are  some,"  he  writes,  **  who  dare  to  say  that  the 
Revelation  is  not  a  writing  of  John  the  apostle  and 
evangelist."* 

About  the  year  370,  flourished  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
bishop  of  Constantinople,  who  in  a  work  **  On  the 
True  and  Genuine  Scriptures,"  enumerates  all  the 
present  books  *of  the  New  Testament  except  that  of 
Revelation.  This,  however,  he  has  quoted'  in  his 
other  works.  ^ 

At  the  same  time  wrote  Epiphanius,  bishop  of 
Constantia,  in  Cyprus ;  **  a  man  of  five  languages." 
He  wrote  against  heresies,  and  gave  a  list  of  the  New 
Testament  books  which  agrees  exactly  with  ours."^ 

About  the  year  350,  another  catalogue  was  pub- 
lished by  the  council  of  Laodicea,  diflering  in  nothing 
from  ours  but  in  the  omission  of  Revelation.  The 
decrees  of  this  council  were,  in  a  short  time,  received 
into  the  canons  of  the  universal  church ;  so  that  as 
early  as  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  we 
find  a  universal  agreement,  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
in  which  Christianity  existed,  as  to  the  constituent 
parts  of  the  New  Testament,  with  the  single  excep- 
tion of  the  book  of  Revelation.  That  this  was  also 
generally  received,  and  why  any  doubted  its  authen- 
ticity, will  appear  in  our  subsequent  progress.^ 

•  Lardner,  2,  522.  t  Ibid.  470,  471.  t  Ibid.  416. 

♦  Ibid.  414.     Alexander  on  the  Canon,  p.  150. 


68  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Athanasius  and  Cyril,  the  latter  heiifg  bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  a  little  earlier  in  the  century,  have  fur- 
nished catalogues :  that  of  the  former  agreeing  en- 
tirely with  ours ;  that  of  the  latter  in  every  thing 
but  the  omission  of  the  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

The  last  catalogue  to  be  mentioned  in  the  fourth 
century,  is  that  of  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Csesarea,  who 
flourished  about  the  year  315.  **^A  man,"  says  Je- 
rome, "  most  studious  in  the  divine  Scriptures,  and 
very  diligent  in  making  a  large  collection  of  ecclesi- 
astical writers."  In  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  he 
mentions,  as  belonging  to  the  canon  of  Scripture,  all 
our  present  books.  While  he  speaks  of  the  epistle 
of  James,  the  second  of  Peter,  the  third  of  John, 
and  the  book  of  Revelation,  as  questioned  by  some, 
he  states  that  they  were  generally  received,  and  de- 
clares his  own  conviction  that  they  ought  not  to  be 
doubted.* 

The  above  testimonies,  though  capable  of  great 
multiplication,  are  amply  sufficient  to  exhibit  the 
universal  confidence  of  Christians,  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, in  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament. 

Let  us  proceed  to  the  third.  In  this,  among 
other  important  names,  we  find  that  of  the  celebrated 
Origen,  who  flourished  about  the  year  230,  having 
been  born  A.  D.  184.  Jerome  speaks  of  him  as  the 
greatest  doctor  of  the  churches  since  the  apostles ; 
that  he  had  the  Scriptures  by  heart,  and  labored  day 
and  night  in  studying  and  explaining  them.^  Great 
numbers  of  all  descriptions  of  men  attended  his  leo- 

•  Lardner,  2,  368,  etc.  t  Ibid.  1,  527. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      69 

tures.  Heathen  philosophers  dedicated  their  writings 
to  him,  and  submitted  them  to  his  revisal.  He  wrote 
a  threefold  exposition  of  the  books  of  Scripture,  on 
which  he  bestowed  all  his  learning.  He  lived  within 
a  hundred  years  of  the  death  of  St.  John,  and  was 
therefore  so  near  the  time  of  the  publication  of  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  that  he  could  hardly 
avoid  obtaining  the  most  accurate  knowledge  of  their 
origin  and  authors.  His  enumeration  of  these  wait- 
ings contains  no  other  books  than  those  of  our  sacred 
volume,  and  includes  all  that  we  receive,  except  the 
epistles  of  James  and  Jude,  which  could  not  have 
been  omitted  by  design,  as  in  other  places  he  ex- 
pressly acknowledges  them  as  part  of  the  sacred 
canon. 

Besides  Origen,  we  have  in  the  third  century, 
Victorinus,  a  bishop  in  Germany;  Cyprian,  bishop 
of  Carthage;  Gregory  of  Neo-Ceesarea,  and  Dionysius 
of  Alexandria,  in  whose  writings  are  found  most 
copious  quotations  from  almost  every  book  of  the 
New  Testament. 

We  proceed  to  the  second  century.  Here  we  meet 
with  Tertullian,  a  native  of  Carthage,  born  about 
the  year  150,  within  fifty  years  of  the  last  of  the 
apostles,  and  renowned  in  his  day  as  a  learned,  vig- 
orous, and  voluminous  writer  in  defence  of  Christian- 
ity. His  works  abound  in  quotations  of  the  most 
direct  kind,  and  with  long  extracts  from  all  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament,  except  four  of  the  minor 
epistles,  which,  as  he  nowhere  professes  to  give  a 
formal  catalogue,  he  may  easily  be  supposed  to  have 


70  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

passed  unquoted,  without  entertaining  any  opinion 
unfavorable  to  their  authenticity.  Tertullian's  quo- 
tations occupy  nearly  thirty  folio  pages.  "  There  are 
more  and  larger  quotations  of  the  small  volume  of 
the  New  Testament  in  this  one  Christian  author, 
than  of  all  the  works  of  Cicero  in  the  writers  of  all 
characters  for  several  ages."* 

The  same  is  true  with  regard  to  Irenaeus  and 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  both  writers  of  the  second 
century.  In  what  spirit  these  early  Christians  re- 
garded the  authority  of  the  New  Testament  books, 
may  be  judged  from  the  manner  of  their  .quotations. 
IrensBUs  writes,  **As  the  blessed  Paul  says  in  the 
epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  5 :  30,  *  For  we  are  mem- 
bers of  his  body,  of  his  flesh,  and  of  his  bones.'" 
And  so  Clement,  "  The  blessed  Paul,  in  the  first 
epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  *  Brethren,  be  not  children 
in  understanding.' " 

It  deserves  to  be  specially  noted,  that  in  this  early 
age,  the  book  of  Revelation  is  expressly  ascribed  to 
St.  John.  The  testimony  of  Irenaeus  to  this  effect  is 
so  full  and  strong,  that  it  may  justly  be  considered 
as  putting  its  authenticity  entirely  beyond  reasonable 
dispute.^ 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that,  in  the  second 
century,  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  open 
to  all,  and  well  known  in  the  world.  In  Tertullian's 
Apology,  addressed  to  the  Roman  presidents,  he  chal- 
lenges an  inspection  of  the  Scriptures.  *'  Look  into 
the  words  of  God,  our  Scriptures,  which  we  ourselves 

•  Lardncr,  1,  435.  t  Ibid.  1,  372. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.     71 

do  not  conceal,  and  many  accidents  bring  into  the 
way  of  those  who  are  not  of  our  religion."  In  this 
appeal  he  calls  the  attention  of  the  heathen  rulers  to 
the  epistles  and  gospels,  as  constituting  "  the  words 
of  God,  our  Scriptures."* 

There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that,  in  the  time 
of  Tertullian,  the  very  autographs  or  original  letters 
of  the  apostles  were  in  the  possession  of  those 
churches  to  which  they  had  been  specially  directecL 
**If,"  says  this  ancient  writer,  "you  be  willing  to 
exercise  your  curiosity  profitably  in  the  business  of 
your  salvation,  visit  the  apostolical  churches,  in  which 
the  very  chairs  of  the  apostles  still  preside;  in  which 
their  very  authentic  letters  are  recited,  sounding 
forth  the  voice  and  representing  the  countenance  of 
each  one  of  them.  Is  Achaia  near  you  ?  You  have 
Corinth.  If  you  are  not  far  from  Macedonia,  you 
have  Philippi,  you  have  Thessalonioa,"  eto.t  If  Ter- 
tullian did  not  mean  that  the  original  manuscripts, 
but  only  authentic  copies  of  the  epistles  to  the  Corin- 
thians,  Philippians,  etc.,  were  to  be  seen  by  applica- 
tion to  those  churches,  why  send  inquirers  thither? 
Could  an  authentic  copy  of  the  epistle  to  the  Philip- 
pians be  seen  nowhere  but  at  Philippi ;  or  of  that  to 
the  Corinthians,  nowhere  but  at  Corinth?* 

The  quotations  from  the  New  Testament,  in  the 
writings  of  the  second  century,  are  so  numerous  that 
were  the  sacred  volume  lost,  a  large  part  of  it  might . 
be  collected  from  them  alone.     Passing  by  the  testi  j 

*  Lardner,  1,  372.  t  Ibid.  1,  424. 

X  Alexander  on  the  Canon,  p.  143. 


1'^  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

monies  of  Melito,  bishop  of  Sardis,  who  wrote  a  com- 
mentary on  the  book  of  Revelation,  and  of  Hegesip- 
pus,  converted  from  Judaism,  and  of  Tatian,  who 
composed  a  harmony  of  the  gospels,  all  born  about 
the  time  of  the  death  of  St.  John,  we  come  to  Justin 
Martyr,  born  about  ten  years  prior  to  that  event. 
Before  his  conversion  from  heathenism,  he  studied 
philosophy  in  the  schools  of  the  Stoics,  Peripatetics, 
Pythagoreans,  and  Platonics.  After  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian, he  occupied  a  high  stand  in  learned  writing  and 
holy  living.  His  remaining  works  contain  numerous 
quotations  from,  as  well  as  allusions  to,  the  four  gos- 
pels, which  he  uniformly  represents  as  containing 
"the  genuine  and  authentic  accounts  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  of  his  doctrine."  The  same  is  true  in  relation 
to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  epistles.  The  book  of  Revelation  is  expressly 
said  by  Justin  to  have  been  written  by  "John,  one 
of  the  apostles  of  Christ."  Having  lived  before  the 
death  of  that  apostle,  he  had  the  best  opportunity  of 
knowing. 

We  finish  the  second  century  with  Papias,  bishop 
of  Hierapolis  in  Asia,  whom  Irenaeus  speaks  of  as  a 
hearer  of  John,  and  a  disciple  of  Polycarp,  a  pupil  of 
John  the  apostle.*  How  he  obtained  his  informa- 
tion will  appear  from  the  only  fragment  of  his  writ- 
ings remaining.  It  is  found  in  Eusebius.  "If  at 
any  time  I  met  with  one  who  had  conversed  with 
the  elders,  I  inquired  after  the  sayings  of  the  elders ; 
what  x\ndrew  or  what  Peter  said ;  or  what  Philip, 

*  Lardner,  1,  336. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      73 

Thomas,  or  James  had  said ;  what  John  or  Matthew,  or 
what  any  other  of  the  disciples  of  the  Lord  were  wont 
to  say."*  Thus  we  have  a  witness  who  lived  near 
enough  to  the  beginning  to  inquire  of  those  who  had 
conversed  with  the  apostles,  if  not  to  listen  to  St. 
John  himself.  Too  little  remains  of  his  writings  to 
furnish  many  testimonies,  especially  as  he  had  it  not 
in  view  to  confirm  the  authenticity  of  any  part  of 
Scripture ;  but  still  he  gives  a  very  valuable  testi- 
mony to  the  gospels  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  and  the 
first  epistles  of  Peter  and  John.  He  alludes  to  the 
Acts  and  the  book  of  Revelation. 

Thus  we  have  ascended  to  the  apostolic  age. 
But  we  may  reach  still  higher.  We  have  in  our 
possession  the  well-authenticated  writings  of  five 
individuals  and  fathers  in  the  primitive  church,  who, 
because  they  were  contemporary  with  the  apostles, 
are  called  apostolical  fathers.  Three  of  them,  Bar- 
nabas, Clement,  and  Hermas,  are  mentioned  by  name 
in  the  New  Testament;^  the  fourth,  Polycarp,  was 
an  immediate  disciple  of  St.  John ;  the  fifth,  Ignatius, 
enjoyed  the  privilege  of  frequent  intercourse  with  the 
apostles.  There  is  scarcely  a  book  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, which  one  or  another  of  these  writers  has  not 
either  quoted  or  alluded  to.  Though  what  is  extant 
of  their  works  is  very  little,  it  contains  more  than 
two  hundred  and  twenty  quotations,  or  allusions  to 
the  writings  of  our  sacred  volume,  in  which  they  are 

*  Lardner,  1,  337. 

t  Acts  13  :  2,  3,  46,  47  ;   1  Cor.  9:4-7;  Phil.  4:3;  Ro- 
mans 16  :  14. 

Eviilenccs.  4 


74  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

uniformly  treated  with  the  reverence  belonging  to 
inspired  books,  and  entitled,  **  The  sacred  Scriptures  ;'* 
*'  The  Oracles  of  the  Lord."  Their  testimony  having 
been  given  incidentally,  without  any  view  to  its 
being  testimony,  does  not  apply  to  all  the  books. 
They  had  no  design  of  enumerating  for  posterity,  or 
for  their  contemporaries,  the  books  of  Scripture. 
There  was  no  controversy  on  that  subject  in  their 
age.  It  would  have  seemed  a  needless  waste  of 
words,  had  they  attempted  to  decide  a  question 
which  no  one  asked.  It  is  very  natural  therefore, 
considering  the  brevity  of  their  remaining  works  and 
the  incidental  character  of  their  quotations,  that 
some  of  the  shorter  writings  of  the  New  Testament 
should  not  be  alluded  to ;  while  the  fact  that  by  one 
or  another  almost  every  book  is  quoted  or  alluded  to, 
and  that  the  whole  number  of  quotations  or  allusions 
is  upwards  of  two  hundred  and  twenty,  accompanied 
with  every  mark  of  reverence  and  submission,  is  a 
most  impressive  proof  that  the  authenticity  and  in- 
spired authority  of  the  New  Testament  books  were 
then  notorious  and  unquestioned  among  Christians. 

Thus  we  have  ascended  the  line  of  testimony  into 
the  presence  of  the  apostles.  Our  evidence  has  been 
collected  from  only  a  few  out  of  the  many  witnesses 
that  might  have  been  cited.  It  has  been  derived  from 
writers  of  different  times,  and  of  countries  widely  sep- 
arated— from  philosophers,  rhetoricians,  and  divines, 
all  men  of  acuteness  and  learning  in  their  days,  all 
concurring  in  their  testimony  that  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament  were  equally  known  in  distant  regions, 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.      75 

and  received  as  authentic  by  men  and  churches  that 
had  no  intercourse  with  one  another.  The  argument 
is  now,  therefore,  reduced  to  this.  The  apostles  and 
disciples  of  Christ  are  known  to  have  left  some  writ- 
ings. That  those  writings  have  been  lost,  none  can 
give  a  reason  for  believing.  It  is  not  pretended  that 
any  other  volume  than  that  of  the  New  Testament 
contains  them.  The  books  contained  in  this  volume 
were  considered  to  be  the  writings  of  the  apostles,  by 
the  whole  Christian  church,  as  far  back  as  those  who 
were  their  contemporaries  and  companions,  being 
continually  quoted  and  alluded  to  as  such.  It  was 
impossible  that  such  witnesses  should  be  deceived. 
Contemporaries  and  companions  must  have  known 
whether  they  quoted  the  genuine  works  of  the  apos- 
tles, or  only  forgeries  pretending  to  their  names.  Our 
evidence,  therefore,  is  complete.  What  I  have  pre- 
sented exceeds,  above  measure,  the  evidence  for  the 
authenticity  of  any  other  ancient  book.  Should  the 
fiftieth  part  of  it  be  required  for  the  proof  of  the 
authenticity  of  any  book  of  ancient  Grecian  or  Ro- 
man origin,  it  could  not  abide  the  trial. 

Before  relinquishing  this  department  of  evidence, 
there  are  certain  very  important  particulars  which, 
though  embraced  in  what  has  been  already  advanced, 
require  a  more  special  notice.  • 

1.  It  is  worthy  of  distinct  remark,  that  when  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  are  quoted  or  alluded  to 
by  those  whose  testimony  has  been  adduced,  they  are 
treated  with  supreme  regard^  as  possessing  an  au- 
thority belonging  to  no  other  books^  and  as  con- 


76  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES.    - 

elusive  in  questions  of  religion.  For  example, 
Irenaens,  born  about  A.  D.  97,  calls  them  '*  Divine 
Oracles ;"  **  Scriptures  of  the  Lord."  He  says  that 
the  gospel  was  ^^  committed  to  writing,  by  the  will 
of  Grod,  that  it  might  be,  for  time  to  come,  the 
foundation  and  pillar  of  our  faith."*  ''  He  fled  to 
the  gospels,  which  he  believed  no  less  than  if  Christ 
had  been  speaking  to  him  ;  and  to  the  writings  of  the 
apostles,  whom  he  esteemed  as  the  presbytery  of  the 
whole  Christian  church."  Origen,  born  about  A.  D. 
184,  says,  '*  Christians  believe  Jesus  to  be  the  Son 
of  God,  in  a  sense  not  to  be  explained  and  made 
known  to  men,  by  any  but  by  that  Scripture  alone 
which  is  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  that  is,  the 
evangelic  and  apostolic  Scripture,  as  also  that  of  the 
law  and  the  prophets."^  Cyprian,  bishop  of  Carthage, 
born  about  the  end  of  the  second  century,  earnestly 
exhorts  '*all  in  general,  but  especially  Christian 
ministers,  in  all  doubtful  matters  to  have  recourse  to 
the  gospels  and  epistles  of  the  apostles,  as  to  the 
fountain  where  may  be  found  the  true  original  doc- 
trine of  Christ."  '^  The  precepts  of  the  gospel,"  he 
says,  "  are  to  be  considered  as  the  lessons  of  God 
to  us;  as- the  foundations  of  our  hope,  and  the  sup- 
ports of  our  faith."* 

2.  The  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  united 
at  a  very  early  period  in  a  distinct  volume.  Not  to 
mention,  in  evidence  of  this,  that  in  all  the  earliest 
writers,  the  gospels  and  epistles  are  spoken  of  as  con- 
stituting a  well-known  collection  of  sacred  authorities, 

*  Lardiier  1.  372.       t  Ibid.  1.  545.        t  Ibid.  2,  27,  592-3. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.     77 

divided  into  those  two  parts ;  we  have  Tertullian,  born 
only  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  St.  John,  calling 
the  collection  of  the  gospels  the  "  Evangelical  Instru- 
ment ;"  the  whole  volume,  the  "  New  Testament ;" 
and  the  two  parts,  the  *•  Gospels  and  Apostles." 

3.  The  hooks  of  the  New  Testament  were,  at  a 
very  early  period,  publicly  read  and  expounded  in 
the  congregations  of  Christians,  Chrysostom,  born 
about  A.  D.  347,  testifies  that  "the  gospels,  when 
written,  were  not  hid  in  a  corner  or  buried  in  ob- 
scurity, but  made  known  to  all  the  world,  before 
enemies  as  well  as  others,  even  as  they  are  now." 
IrenoDUs,  about  two  hundred  years  earlier,  says,  that 
in  his  time,  '^  all  the  Scriptures,  both  prophecies  and 
gospels,  are  open  and  clear,  and  may  be  heard  of 
all."*  Still  earlier,  we  find  Justin  Martyn  giving  the 
emperor  an  account  of  the  Christian  worship,  in 
which  it  is  written,  **  The  memoirs  of  the  apostles  or 
the  writings  of  the  prophets  are  read,  according  as  the 
time  allows ;  and  when  the  reader  has  ended,  the 
president  makes  a  discourse,  exhorting  to  the  imi- 
tation of  so  excellent  things."^  The  custom  here 
mentioned  is  evidently  spoken  of  as  notorious  and 
universal.  This  was  about  the  year  140.  But  a 
practice  thus  general  and  familiar  could  hardly  have 
grown  up  in  less  than  forty  years  before  the  writing 
of  this  last  witness.  Thus  we  reach  the  life  of  St. 
John,  and  may  therefore  consider  it  as  satisfactorily 
proved,  that  at  a  period  as  early  as  the  last  years  of 
St.  John,  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament  were 

*  Lardner  1,  372.  t  Ibid.  1,  345. 


78  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

publicly  read  and  expounded  in  the  churches  of 
Christians.  Such  is  the  natural  inference,  from  many 
passages  in  the  works  of  Augustine,  of  the  fourth 
century.  For  example,  ''"  The  canonical  books  of 
Scripture  being  read  everywhere,  the  miracles  therein 
recorded  are  well  known  to  all  people."  *'  The  epis- 
tles of  Peter  and  Paul  are  daily  recited  to  the  people. 
And  to  what  people?  And  to  how  many  people? 
Listen  to  the  Psalm,  '  Their  sound  hath  gone  out 
into  all  the  earth.' "  Again,  ''  The  genuineness  and 
integrity  of  the  same  Scriptures  may  be  relied  on, 
which  have  been  spread  all  over  the  world,  and  which 
from  the  time  of  their  publication  were  in  the  high- 
est esteem,  and  have  been  carefully  kept  in  the 
churches."* 

4.  During'  the  primitive  ages  of  Christianity^ 
commentaries  were  written  upon  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament ;  harmonies  of  them  were  formed^ 
copies  diligently  compared^  and  translations  made 
into  different  languages.  In  proof  of  these  asser- 
tions, it  is  needless,  after  the  citations  already  made, 
to  call  up  testimony.  It  may  be  found  abundantly 
in  Paley's  Evidences  ;^  where  it  is  well  said,  that 
''  no  greater  proof  can  be  given  of  the  esteem  in 
which  these  ancient  books  were  holden  by  the  ancient 
Christians,  or  of  the  sense  then  entertained  of  their 
value  and  importance,  than  the  industry  bestowed 
upon  them.  Moreover,  it  shows  that  they  were  then 
considered  as  ancient  books.  Men  do  not  write  com- 
ments upon  publications  of  their  own  times  ;  therefore 
*  Lardner  2,  593-4.  t  Page  1,  ch.  9,  sec.  6. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF   THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.      79 

the  testimonies  cited  under  this  head  afford  an  evi- 
dence which  carries  up  the  evangelic  writings  much 
beyond  the  age  of  the  testimonies  themselves,  and  to 
that  of  their  reputed  authors."  There  is  but  a  single 
example  of  a  Christian  writer  during  the  three  first 
centuries,  composing  comments  upon  any  other  books 
than  those  in  the  New  Testament.  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria is  mentioned  by  Eusebius  as  having  written 
short  notes  upon  an  apocryphal  book  called  the  Rev- 
elation of  Peter ;  but  that  he  did  not  consider  it  as 
having  authority,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  men- 
tioned by  Eusebius,  that  in  his  other  works  it  was 
nowhere  quoted.* 

5.  From  the  view  we  have  taken  of  primitive  tes- 
timony, it  appears  that  the  agreement  of  the  ancient 
church  as  to  what  were  the  autJientic  books  of  the 
Neiv  Testament  is  complete.  Out  of  twelve  cata- 
logues, the  earliest  of  which  was  furnished  by  Origen, 
living  within  a  hundred  years  of  St.  John,  and  all  of 
which  were  drawn  up  either  by  solemn  councils  or 
distinguished  heads  of  the  church  residing  in  various 
and  widely  remote  parts  of  the  world — out  of  twelve, 
seven,  including  the  earliest,  agree  exactly  with  our 
New  Testament  list;  three  others  differ  only  in  the 
omission  of  the  book  of  Revelation,  for  which  they  had 
a  special  reason  not  implicating  its  authenticity  ;  and 
in  the  two  w^hich  remain,  the  books  omitted,  and 
spoken  of  as  doubtful  in  the  estimation  of  some,  w^ere 
acknowledged  and  quoted  as  authentic  by  the  framers 
of  the  catalogues.  The  fathers,  in  all  their  writings 
*  Lardner  1,  410. 


80  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

and  of  all  ages  and  countries,  appeal  to  the  same 
Scriptures  as  infallible  authority.  The  consent  of  the 
ancient  church  was  therefore  universal.  So  far  as 
the  argument  for  the  divine  revelation  of  the  gospel 
is  connected  with  the  authenticity  of  any  of  the 
hooks,  it  was  without  exception.  The  hooks  omitted 
in  some  writers  and  catalogues,  have  no  essential 
reference  to  the  great  question  whether  the  gospel  of 
Christ  is  of  divine  revelation. 

6.  The  agreement  among  the  various  sects  of 
heretics  in  the  earliest  centuries^  is  as  entire  as  that 
of  the  orthodox  fathers.  The  authenticity  of  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  was  acknowledged  even 
by  those  to  whose  sectarian  interest  their  authority 
was  extremely  detrimental.  Instead  of  venturing  to 
dispute  their  having  been  written  by  their  reputed 
authors,  they  sought  refuge  in  arbitrary  interpreta- 
tions of  such  passages  as  opposed  their  favorite  views. 
Some  among  the  Gnostics,  for  example,  unable  to 
escape  the  apostolic  character  of  the  sacred  books, 
maintained  the  necessity  of  giving  an  allegorical  turn 
^to  their  declarations.  And  when,  in  the  course  of 
time,  heretics  did  undertake  to  question  the  authen- 
ticity of  some  portions  of  the  New  Testament,  their 
accusation  was  not  based  upon  any  historical  or  testi- 
monial objections,  but  confined  to  some  trifling  and 
pretended  internal  causes  of  exception,  which  only 
their  own  convenience  could  discover.  Some  of  these 
later  heretics,  being  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  denied  the  gospel  of  St. 
John,  because  it  contains  the  promise  of  that  divino 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      81 

Teacher  and  Comforter.  But  with  regard  to  those  of 
an  earlier  date,  IrencBUs  of  the  second  century  writes, 
"  So  great  is  the  certainty  in  regard  to  our  gospels, 
that  even  the  heretics  themselves  bear  testimony  in 
their  favor;  and  all  acknowledging  them,  each  en- 
deavors to  establish  from  them  his  own  opinions."* 
Origen,  on  account  as  well  of  his  candor  and  ac- 
quaintance with  the  heresies  of  his  times  as  of  the 
early  age  in  which  he  lived,  should  be  considered  a 
competent  witness  on  this  head.  He  states  that  the 
heretics  endeavored  to  impose  upon  people  by  alleg- 
ing texts  of  Scripture  for  their  particular  tenets, 
though  they  quoted  them  in  a  very  unfair  and  muti- 
lated manner;  and  that  they  appealed  to  them  be- 
cause they  were  the  only  writings  whose  authority 
was  universally  allowed.^  Testimony  more  impres- 
sive than  this,  to  the  apostolic  authorship  of  the 
New  Testament  books,  cannot  be  demanded. 

7.  The  several  heads  of  evidence  tohich  have  now 
been  made  out  in  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
New  Testament^  cannot  be  pretended  to  with  regard 
to  any  of  those  writings  which  are  called  Apocry-^ 
phal  Scriptures.  To  some  who  are  aware  that  in 
the  early  ages  of  Christianity  there  existed  a  variety 
of  apocryphal  gospels  and  other  compositions  pre- 
tending to  have  been  written  by  the  apostles,  it  may 
be  difficult  to  imagine  by  what  rule  the  true  works 
of  the  inspired  writers  were  separated,  without  em- 
barrassment and  with  sufficient  confidence,  from  all 

♦  Storr  and  Flatt's  Bib.  Theol.  1,  67. 
'»  Lardncr  4,  521-2. 

4* 


82  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

mere  pretenders  to  that  high  original.  But  it  greatly 
enhances  one's  sense  of  the  prodigious  weight  of  evi- 
dence in  support  of  the  true  Scriptures,  to  learn  how 
broad  and  unquestionable  was  the  distinction. 

Among  the  apocryphal  writings,  there  are  two 
classes.  One  is  that  of  histories  which  assumed  the 
names  of  the  apostles,  but  were  literally  forgeries  and 
therefore  spurious^  as  well  as  apocryphal.  The  other 
consists  of  certain  writings  of  a  Christian  character, 
and  either  entirely  or  in  part  historical,  which  are  not 
spurious,  but  called  apocryphal  because  their  age  and 
authors  are  unknown,  or  their  authority  is  of  no 
weight. 

Of  the  first  class  it  may  be  asserted,  without  any 
hazard,  that  none  are  quoted  within  three  hundred 
years  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  by  any  writer  now 
extant  or  known ;  or  if  any  are  quoted,  it  is  invari- 
ably with  marks  of  censure  and  rejection.*  The  only 
possible  exception  is  *^  the  gospel  according  to  the 
Hebrews ;"  **  which,"  says  Lardner,  '^  was  probably 
either  St.  Matthew's  gospel  in  his  original  Hebrew, 
with  some  additions,  or,  as  I  rather  think,  a  Hebrew 
translation  of  St.  Matthew's  Greek  original,  with  the 
additions  above-mentioned."  But  this  is  quoted  no- 
where, without  marks  of  discredit,  except  in  one 
place  in  the  works  of  Clement  of  Alexandria. 

Of  the  second  class,  none  but  a  book  called  the 
<*  Preaching  of  Peter,"  and  another  entitled  the  *' Rev- 
elation of  Peter,"  are  quoted,  without  positive  con- 
demnation, by  any  writer  of  the  three  first  centuries. 
*  Paley's  Evidences. 


.   AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.      83 

These  are  spoken  of  only  by  the  same  Clement  of 
Alexandria.  Compare  with  these  facts,  the  immense 
mass  and  variety  of  concurrent  testimonies  to  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  writers  of  the 
three  first  centuries — ^testimonies  from  all  countries 
and  all  classes,  or  thodox  orheretics :  remember,  for 
example,  that  you  may  find  in  the  extant  works  of 
Tertullian,  or  of  Irenaeus,  or  of  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, more  and  larger  quotations  of  the  small  vol- 
ume of  the  New  Testament,  than  you  can  find  in 
writers  of  all  characters,  for  several  ages,  of  the 
works  of  Cicero,  though  voluminous  and  always 
so  universally  popular;  and  it  will  be  evident  that 
the  apocryphal  writings  could  have  presented  no 
difl[iculties  in  ascertaining  the  authentic  books  of  the 
apostles.  None  of  them  were  read  as  having  apos- 
tolic authority  in  the  churches  of  Christians,  nor 
admitted  into  their  sacred  volume,  nor  included  in 
their  catalogues,  nor  noticed  as  authentic  by  the 
adversaries  of  Christianity,  nor  appealed  to  by  all 
parties  calling  themselves  Christians,  as  authority  in 
their  controversies,  nor  treated  with  sufficient  re- 
spect to  be  made  the  subjects  of  commentaries,  col- 
lections, or  translations,  unless  the  brief  notes  on  the 
Revelation  of  Peter,  by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  should 
merit  exception.  So  wide  was  the  contrast  between 
the  true  and  the  false ;  so  easily  were  the  true  Scrip- 
tures distinguished  from  all  unauthorized  pretenders 
to  that  honorable  name. 

But  this  is  capable  of  being  exhibited  still  more 
impressively.     We  have  stated  several  important  evi- 


84  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

dences  of  authenticity,  all  of  which  are  found  in  the 
New  Testament  and  none  in  any  of  the  apocryphal 
writings.  We  will  now  exhibit  certain  evidences  of 
spuriousnesSj  all  of  which  are  found  in  the  apocry- 
phal writings,  and  none  in  those  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

The  reasons  which  render  the  authenticity  of  a 
work  suspicious,  are  thus  enumerated  in  the  learned 
''  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,"  by  Michaelis  : 
1.  When  doubts  have  been  entertained,  from  its  first 
appearance,  whether  it  was  the  work  of  its  reputed 
author.  2.  When  his  immediate  friends  who  were 
able  to  judge,  have  denied  it  to  be  his.  3.  When  a 
long  series  of  years  has  elapsed  after  his  death,  in 
which  the  book  was  unknown,  and  in  which  it  must 
have  been  mentioned  or  quoted  had  it  been  in  exist- 
ence. 4.  When  the  style  is  different  from  that  of  his 
other  writings  ;  or  in  case  no  others  remain,  different 
from  what  might  be  reasonably  expected.  5.  When 
events  are  recorded  which  happened  later  than  the 
time  of  the  pretended  author.  6.  When  opinions  are 
advanced  contradictory  to  those  which  he  is  known 
to  have  maintained  in  other  writings.*  Now  it  may 
be  affirmed,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  the 
apocryphal  books  exhibit  all  these  evidences  of 
spuriousness ;  none  of  them  being  exempt  from 
nearly  the  whole  list,  and  few  of  them  deficient  in 
any  particular.  While,  with  equal  confidence,  it  is 
asserted  that  the  boolvs  of  the  New  Testament  ex- 
hibit none  of  them.  In  no  book  of  that  holy  volume, 
*  Michaelis'  Int.  vol;  1,  p.  25. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  KEW  TESTAMENT.      85 

are  opinions  professed  that  are  contradictory  to  any 
which  tlie  reputed  author  is  known  elsewhere  to  have 
maintained ;  nor  are  facts  recorded  which  happened 
later  than  the  age  in  which  he  lived  ;  nor  is  the  style 
different  from  that  of  his  other  writings,  or  from 
what  might  reasonably  have  been  expected  from  his 
pen.  No  book  of  the  New  Testament  was  unknown 
during  a  long  series  of  years  subsequent  to  the  death 
of  the  individual  to  whom  it  is  ascribed ;  none  can 
be  shown  to  have  been  denied  by  the  near  friends  of 
the  reputed  author  as  his  production  ;  no  doubts  can 
be  proved  to  have  been  entertained  of  the  authen- 
ticity of  any  part  of  the  New  Testament  at  the  time 
of  its  first  publication. 

That  apocryphal  writings  existed  in  the  first  cen- 
turies, is  a  fact  which,  so  far  from  embarrassino:  the 
evidence  for  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament 
books  and  the  truth  of  the  gospel  history,  very  mate- 
rially confirms  it.  Had  it  not  been  notorious  that 
the  apostles  did  write  gospels  and  epistles,  it  is  not 
likely  that  so  many  would  have  attempted  to  pass  off 
spurious  gospels  in  their  names.  Had  it  not  been 
that  the  fame  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  was  very 
great  in  all  lands  from  the  beginning,  it  is  not  prob- 
able that  all  these  apocryphal  authors  would  have 
thought  of  writing  about  them,  or  in  their  names; 
niuch  less  .that  they  would  have  expected  a  market 
for  their  works.  Had  it  not  been  notorious  and 
universally  allowed,  that  Christ  and  his  apostles 
wrought  miracles  and  did  many  wonderful  works,  it 
is  not  probable  that  all  these  writers  would  have 


86  MILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

taken  it  for  granted,  and  sought  to  build  up  their 
particular  opinions  upon  the  assumption.  "  They  all 
suppose  the  dignity  of  our  Lord's  person,  and  a  power 
of  working  miracles,  txjgether  with  a  high  degree  of 
authority,  as  having  been  conveyed  by  him  to  his 
apostles."* 

That  apocryphal  books  should  have  been  pub- 
lished in  the  name  of  the  apostles,  is  precisely  what 
was  to  be  expected  from  the  wide  circulation,  great 
popularity,  and  eminent  reverence  which  their  authen- 
tic writings  had  obtained.  Current  notes  soon  awa- 
ken a  disposition  to  counterfeit  them.  Popular  med- 
icines soon  bring  into  the  market  apocryphal  inven- 
tions wearing  their  names.  The  effort  to  pass  off  the 
latter  is  the  best  proof  of  the  estimation  of  the  former. 

The  New  Testament  writers  have  been  treated  in 
this  respect  precisely  like  others.  So  writes  Augus- 
tine: ''No  writings  ever  had  a  better  testimony  af- 
forded them,  than  those  of  the  apostles  and  evangel- 
ists; nor  does  it  weaken  the  credit  and  authority  of 
books  received  by  the  church  from  the  beginning, 
that  some  other  writings  have  been  without  ground, 
and  falsely  ascribed  to  the  apostles ;  for  the  like  has 
happened,  for  instance,  to  Hippocrates;  but  yet  his 
genuine  works  have  been  distinguished  from  others 
which  have  been  published  under  his  name."^  Such 
also  has  been  the  case  with  many  others.  Several 
spurious  orations  were  published  under  the  names  of 
Lysias  and  Demosthenes.  Works  were  ascribed  to 
Plautus  and  Virgil  and  Horace,  which  had  no  title  to 

♦  Lardner,  vol.  3,  p.  131.  t  Ibid.  3, 134. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.      87 

their  names.  But  it  was  no  difficult  matter  for  the 
Greek  and  Roman  critics  to  separate  the  genuine 
from  the  apocryphal  works  of  those  authors.  Thus  it 
was  also  with  the  early  Christians.  They  proved  all 
things,  and  held  fast  that  only  which  was  good. 
*'We  receive  Peter  and  the  other  apostles  as  Christ," 
said  Serapion,  bishop  of  Antioch;  "but  as  skilful 
men,  we  reject  those  writings  which  arc  falsely  as- 
cribed to  them." 

Here  we  might  safely  leave  the  question  of  au- 
thenticity ;  for  if  the  evidence  adduced  does  not  prove 
the  New  Testament  books  to  have  proceeded  from 
the  apostles,  no  book  of  a  past  age  has  any  pretension 
to  authenticity:  that  Milton  wrote  Paradise  Lost 
must  be  considered  unworthy  of  credit;  that  the 
orations  bearing  the  name  of  Cicero  were  composed 
or  delivered  by  that  orator,  must  be  condemned  as 
one  of  the  apocryphal  inventions  of  some  age  of 
monks  and  darkness.  "I  find  more  sure  marks  of 
authenticity  in  the  New  Testament,"  said  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  "than  in  any  profane  history  whatever." 

But  inasmuch  as  your  minds  cannot  be  furnished 
with  too  much  information  on  this  fundamental  sub- 
ject, I  will  reserve  some  important  views  for  a  sub- 
sequent lecture. 

There  is  a  lesson  for  the  believer  in  what  has  been 
exhibited  of  great  practical  interest.  It  is  manifest 
from  the  testimonies  adduced,  that  the  scriptures  of 
the  New  Testament  were  treated  among  the  primitive 
Christians,  not  only  as  true  and  possessed  of  inspired 
authority  in  reference  t-o  all  questions  of  doctrine  and 


88  .   M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

obedience,  but  as  very  precious — "more  to  be  desired 
than. 'gold."  They  loved  them  as  an  inestimable 
treasure;  l:hey  kept  them,  consulted  them,  and  ex- 
alted them  in  their  hearts  and  houses  and  assemblies, 
as  a  companion  for  every  trial,  a  guide  in  every  dif- 
ficulty, a  gift  of  God,  for  the  preservation  and  honor 
of  which  they  were  ready  to  shed  their  blood.  They 
felt  them  to  be  **  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousiless."  How 
does  all  this  rebuke  the  lukewarmness  with  which 
the  Scriptures  are  regarded  by  too  many  professing 
Christians  of  the  present  day.  In  primitive  times, 
believers  would  read  them,  though  they  paid  for  the 
privilege  with  their  lives.  In  these  days,  multitudes 
who  call  themselves  believers  can  hardly  be  persuaded 
to  search  the  Scriptures,  though  every  facility  is 
afforded  and  the  Bible  is  in  honor.  What  a  tremen- 
dous account  must  he  give  to  God,  who  neglects  his 
word  I  Let  us  imitate  not  only  the  affectionate  de- 
votion with  which  the  primitive  Christians  read  the 
Bible,  but  also  the  diligent  zeal  with  which  they  sur- 
mounted innumerable  obstacles  in  circulating  copies 
of  its  books  through  the  world.  We  possess  fapilities 
for  such  an  object  which  they  had  not.  The  press  is 
placed  in  our  hands  for  this  very  purpose.  It  is  our 
gift  of  tongues.  Let  us  realize  the  responsibility  we 
are  under  for  the  improvement  of  so  rich  a  talent,  and 
speed  its  work  and  multiply  its  branches  of  applica- 
tion, till  the  sound  of  the  gospel  has  gone  out  into  all 
the  earth,  and  the  words  of  Jesus  to  the  ends  of  the 
world,  and  there  is  nothing  hid  from  the  light  thereof. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      89 


LECTURE    III. 


AUTHENTICITY  AND  INTEGRlfY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTA- 
MENT. 

Our  attention  was  exclusively  occupied,  during 
the  last  lecture,  in  tracing  up  the  line  of  testimony 
by  which  the  church  of  Christ  in  these  days  is  certi- 
fied that  her  sacred  books,  composing  the  volume  of 
the  New  Testament,  are  those  very  books  which  were 
written  by  the  apostles  of  the  Lord  Jesus  A  series 
of  attestations  was  followed  up,  by  which  we  were 
conducted  into  the  very  age  and  presence  of  the  apos- 
tles, and  enabled  to  inquire  of  those  who,  having  been 
their  contemporaries  and  in  habits  of  intercourse  with 
them,  must  necessarily  have  known  what  books  they 
wrote.  A  mass  of  evidence  was  obtained,  by  which 
the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament  was  placed 
on  the  most  immovable  basis.  But,  inasmuch  as  we 
are  now  laying  the  foundation  of  our  subsequent  and 
more  direct  arguments  for  the  truth  of  Christianity 
as  a  divine  revelation,  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance, 
that  in  respect  to  this  preliminary  subject,  every 
mind  be  well  assured,  and  that  nothing  of  importance 
to  the  impressiveness  as  well  as  sufficiency  of  the 
evidence  be  omitted.  In  the  present  lecture  there- 
fore, we  pursue  still  further  the  question  to  which  the 
last  was  devoted. 


90  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

From  the  whole  tenor  of  the  previous  lecture,  it 
is  evident  that  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament — 
in  other  words,  the  collection  of  those  books  which 
were  considered  as  the  inspired  and  authoritative 
writings  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  others — was  not  made  without  great  care, 

AND  THE  MOST  DELIBERATE,  INTELLIGENT  INVESTIGATION. 

Such  is  the  witnessing  of  an  eminent  writer  of  the 
fourth  century.  **  Our  canonical  books,"  says  Augus- 
tine, "  which  are  of  the  highest  authority  among  us, 
have  been  settled  with  great  care :  they  ought  to  be 
few,  lest  their  value  should  be  diminished ;  and  yet, 
they  are  so  many,  and  written  by  so  many  persons, 
that  their  agreement  throughout  is  wonderful."*  The 
method  pursued  by  the  early  Christians  in  determin- 
ing what  books  had  a  just  claim  to  the  character  of 
canonical  scriptures,  was  precisely  that  by  which  we 
have  been  investigating  the  same  subject.  It  was 
not  enough,  for  the  reception  of  a  writing,  that  it 
came  to  them  under  the  name  of  an  apostle,  and  was 
considered  by  some  as  justly  entitled  to  that  honor. 
Its  descent  was  carefully  traced.  How  was  it  re- 
garded by  the  preceding  generation,  and  by  the  gener- 
ation before  that  ?  Was  it  known  by  those  who  lived 
nearest  the  time  and  the  person  associated  with  its 
claims?  Had  it  been  received  by  the  churches — re- 
^ferred  to  and  quoted,  as  possessing  canonical  author- 
ity, by  Christian  writers  since  the  period  of  its  general 
publication  ?  Had  it  been  handed  down  by  the  gen- 
eral and  concurrent  tradition  of  the  church,  written 
•  Lardncr,  vol.  2,  p.  596. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.       91 

and  unwritten,  as  the  work  of  the  writer  whose  name 
it  bears?  Such  was  the  mode  which,  we  know  from 
the  remaining  works  of  IrensBUS,  TertuUian,  Ensebius, 
Cyril,  and  Augustine,  was  employed  in  their  days, 
and  in  all  times  of  the  primitive  church.  **  The  books 
of  the  canonical  Scriptures,"  says  Augustine,  ''estab- 
lished in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  and  confirmed  by 
the  testimony  of  the  succession  of  bishops  and  churches 
in  all  following  times,  are  placed  in  a  peculiar  de- 
gree of  authority,  to  which  the  judgment  and  under- 
standing of  all  pious  men  are  subject." 

The  numerous  catalogues  which  have  descended 
to  us  from  the  early  centuries,  are  sufficient  evidence 
of  the  care  with  which  the  canon  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  settled.  In  primitive  times,  when,  from  a 
variety  of  causes,  spurious  books  abounded,  and  the 
distant  and  scattered  churches,  incapable  of  much 
intercourse  with  those  near  the  centre  of  Christian 
light,  were  most  liable  to  be  deceived,  these  catalogues 
were  of  the  greatest  importance.  How  numerous 
they  must  have  been  may  be,  in  some  wise,  conceived 
from  the  fact,  that  although  but  a  very  small  portion 
of  the  works  of  the  first  four  centuries  are  extant, 
there  are  among  them  no  less  than  thirteen  indepen- 
dent catalogues,  all  of  them  composed  by  authors 
scattered  over  a  period  of  not  more  than  one  hundred 
and  eighty,  out  of  the  first  four  hundred  years  after 
the  birth  of  Christ. 

The  same  care  is  seen  in  the  pains  that  were  taken 
to  obtain  the  most  exact  information  as  to  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  books  bearing  apostolio  names ;  and  also 


92  M'iLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

from  the  decisive  censure  and  aversion  with  which  an 
attenipt  to  pass  a  spurious  work  upon  the  church  was 
visited.  Pious  and  learned  heads  of  the  churches  used 
to  journey  to  Palestine,  and  reside  there  for  a  consid-' 
erable  length  of  time,  for  the  express  object  of  obtain- 
ing whatever  valuable  knowledge  might  be  found 
there  as  to  the  New  Testament  writings.  And  of  the 
treatment  bestowed  upon  attempted  forgeries,  we^ 
have  an  example  in  the  case  of  a  certain  presbyter  of 
Asia,  soon  after  the  death  of  St.  John,  who  published 
a  book,  which  is  still  extant,  under  the  title  of  the 
'*Acts  of  Paul  and  Thecla."  The  attempt  at  impo- 
sition was  charged  upon  the  author,  and  confessed. 
Whereupon  he  was  degraded  from  his  office,  and  the 
whole  matter  was  notified  to  the  churches,  that  they 
might  feel  the  need  of  the  strictest  care  thereafter.* 

The  gradual  steps  by  which  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament  were  multiplied  to  their  present  number, 
afforded  the  best  opportunity  for  a  careful  and  accu- 
rate determination  of  their  authenticity.  Had  they 
all  appeared  at  once,  claiming  in  their  collective  form 
to  be  received  by  the  churches  as  inspired  Scripture, 
the  attention  of  Christians  being  thus  divided  among 
twenty-seven  independent  writings  which  professed  to 
have  been  written  by  eight  different  authors,  the  dili- 
gence of  their  investigation  would  have  been  also 
divided;  its  accuracy  would  have  been  endangered, 
and  the  opportunity  of  imposition  greatly  increased. 
But  such  was  not  the  case.  The  books  of  the  New 
Testament  were  published  singly.  They  came  before 
*  Lardner,  vol.  1,  p.  435. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      93 

the  churches  one  by  one,  with  considerable  intervals 
between  them;  thus  giving  time  for  the  claims  of 
each  to  be  deliberately  and  singly  examined.  The 
epistle  to  the  Romans  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the 
church  in  the  city  of  Rome,  and  had  its  authority  as 
a  writing  of  St.  Paul  determined,  without  embarrass- 
ment from  any  question  as  to  the  authenticity  of  the 
epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  The  Ephesians  received 
the  epistle  directed  to  them,  and  could  sit  in  judg- 
ment  upon  its  claims,  without  any  necessity  of  de- 
ciding at  that  time  upon  the  authenticity  of  the  epis- 
tle to  the  Romans,  or  Corinthians,  or  Philippians. 
Thus  were  there  several  years  between  the  beginning 
and  completion  of  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament 
For  a  little  while,  a  portion  of  the  church  might  pos- 
sess an  additional  book,  which  a  distant  region,  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  of  multiplying  and  trans- 
mitting copies,  would  not  have  received.  It  may 
have  been  a  period  of  some  years  before  a  church  in 
the  distant  parts  of  Asia  received  and  was  enabled 
satisfactorily  to  authenticate  the  epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans. Meanwhile,  the  canon  of  Scripture  might  have 
been  composed  of  more  books  at  Rome,  than  at  that 
distant  church. 

How  long  this  state  of  things  continued,  or  when 
precisely  the  canon  was  closed,  is  a  question  rather 
of  curiosity  than  of  importance,  the  authenticity  and 
canonical  character  of  any  particular  book  being  in- 
dependent of  its  determination.  We  know  that  the 
principal  parts  of  the  New  Testament  were  collected 
before  the  death  of  St.  John,  or  at  least  not  long  sub- 


94  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

sequent  to  that  event.  But  what  individual,  or  what 
assemblage  of  persons  collected  them — where  and 
precisely  when  the  work  was  done,  we  may  indulge 
in  plausible  conjecture,  but  cannot  certainly  ascer- 
tain. But  what  connection  have  such  matters  with 
the  question  of  apostolic  origin  ?  If  the  epistle  to  the 
Romans  or  the  gospel  of  Matthew  was  written  by  the 
disciple  whose  name  it  bears,  it  surely  matters  little 
that  we  should  know  when  it  became  the  companion 
of  other  authentic  books  in  the  formation  of  a  separate 
volume,  or  who  arranged  its  place  in  that  volume,  or 
when  an  assemblage  of  Christian  fathers  inserted  its 
name  in  a  catalogue,  and  published  it  to  the  churches 
as  a  canonical  writing.  It  was  canonical  as  soon  as 
it  was  composed.  It  was  a  part  of  the'  New  Testa- 
ment from  the  moment  of  its  birth.  Had  the  books 
of  Scripture  never  been  collected  into  a  volume,  but 
kept  in  separation,  as  they  were  first  published,  to 
the  present  time,  although  their  preservation  would 
have  been  more  difficult,  their  authority  would  have 
been  the  same,  and  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament 
complete.  Had  no  father  of  the  church,  nor  any  ec- 
clesiastical council  ever  issued  a  declaration  of  opin- 
ion as  to  what  writings  should  be  included  in  the  list 
of  canonical  scriptures,  we  should  have  wanted  indeed 
much  valuable  testimony  now  possessed  from  such 
sources ;  but  the  essential  claim  of  each  inspired  book 
to  a  place  in  the  canon  would  have  remained  unal- 
tered. To  substantiate  the  title  of  any  portion  of  the 
New  Testament  to  so  honorable  a  place,  we  need  only 
the  proof  that  it  was  written  by  the  apostle  or  evan- 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.      95 

gelist  to  whom  it  is  ascribed.  For  this  we  require 
the  testimony  of  primitive  antiquity.  So  far  as  the 
opinion  of  ancient  councils  or  authors  is  deserving  of 
attention  as  a  matter  of  testimony,  it  is  of  value  in 
the  settlement  of  the  canon ;  and  in  this  view,  such 
opinion  is  unquestionably  of  the  highest  importance; 
and  what  we  have  already  exhibited  of  this  kind  de- 
serves the  greatest  consideration.  But  the  point  to 
be  especially  noted  is,  that  the  ^xooi  oi  authenticity  in 
the  subject  before  us,  is  the  proof  of  canonical  author- 
ity ;  that  the  canon  began  when  the  first  gospel  or 
epistle  was  published;  that  it  increased  with  every 
additional  publication  by  inspired  men,  and  was 
complete  and  closed  the  moment  the  last  writing 
of  the  New  Testament  was  issued  to  the  churches; 
though  at  the  same  time  but  few  of  them  may  have 
been  acquainted  with  it,  though  no  ecclesiastical  as- 
sembly may  have  sanctioned  it,  and  no  union  had 
been  made  with  other  inspired  books,  so  as  to  present 
them  to  the  churches  as  a  collection  of  canonical 
writings  under  the  general  name  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

As  to  the  arrangement  of  these  books  in  a  single 
volume,  it  must  have  been  a  work  of  time,  according 
to  the  relative  situation  and  intercourse  of  any  par- 
ticular region  of  Christianity.  **  Those  churches 
which  were  situated  nearest  to  the  place  where  any 
particular  books  were  published,  would  of  course 
obtain  copies  much  earlier  than  churches  in  remote 
parts  of  the  world.  For  a  considerable  period  the 
collection  of  these  books  in  each  church  must  have 


96  li'ILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

been  necessarily  incomplete,  for  it  would  take  some 
time  to  send  to  the  church  or  people  with  whom  the 
autographs  were  deposited,  and  to  write  off  fair 
copies.  Tliis  necessary  process  will  also  account  for 
the  fact,  that  some  of  the  smaller  books  were  not 
received  by  the  churches  so  early,  nor  universally,  as 
the  larger.  The  solicitude  of  the  churches  to  possess 
immediately  the  more  extensive  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  would  doubtless  induce  them  to  make  a 
great  exertion  to  acquire  copies ;  but  probably  the 
smaller  would  not  be  so  much  spoken  of,  nor  would 
there  be  so  strong  a  desire  to  obtain  them. without 
delay.  Considering  how  difficult  it  is  now,  with  all 
our  improvements  in  the  typographical  art,  to  multi- 
ply copies  of  the  Scriptures  with  sufficient  rapidity, 
it  is  truly  wonderful  how  so  many  churches  as  were 
founded  during  the  first  century,  to  say  nothing  of 
individuals,  could  all  be  supplied  with  copies  of  the 
New  Testament,  when  there  was  no  speedier  method 
of  producing  them  than  by  writing  every  letter  with 
the  pen.  Even  as  early  as  the  time  when  Peter 
wrote  his  second  epistle,  the  writings  of  Paul  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  churches,  and  were  classed  with  the 
other  scriptures.*  And  the  citation  from  these  books 
by  the  earliest  Christian  writers  living  in  different 
countries,  demonstrates  that  from  the  time  of  their 
publication  they  were  sought  after  with  avidity,  and 
were  widely  dispersed."  ''  How  intense  the  interest 
which  the  first  Christians  felt  in  the  writings  of  the 
apostles  can  scarcely  be  conceived  by  us,  who  have 
*  2  Peter,  3:14,  15. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT        97 

been  familiar  with  these  books  from  our  earliest 
years.  How  solicitous  would  they  be,  for  example, 
who  had  never  seen  Paul,  but  had  heard  of  his  won- 
derful conversion  and  extraordinary  labors  and  gifts, 
1>3  read  his  writings.  And  probably  they  who  had  en- 
joyed the  high  privilege  of  hearing  this  apostle  preach, 
would  not  be  less  desirous  of  reading  his  epistles. 
As  we  know  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  as  well  as 
from  testimony,  that  many  uncertain  accounts  of 
Christ's  discourses  and  miracles  had  obtained  circu- 
lation, how  greatly  would  the  primitive  Christians 
rejoice  to  obtain  an  authentic  history  from  the  pen  of 
an  apostle,  or  from  one  who  wrote  precisely  what 
was  dictated  by  an  apostle.  "We  need  no  longer 
wonder,  therefore,  that  every  church  should  wish  to 
possess  a  collection  of  the  writings  of  the  apostles: 
.and  knowing  them  to  be  the  productions  of  inspired 
men,  they  would  want  no  farther  sanction  of  their 
authority.  All  that  was  requisite  was  to  be  certain 
that  the  book  was  indeed  written  by  the  apostle 
whose  name  it  bore."*  Hence  the  care  of  St.  Paul, 
as  he  commonly  wrote  by  an  amanuensis,  to  have 
the  salutation  in  his  own  hand,  or  to  annex  his  sig- 
nature ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  second  epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians :  "  The  salutation  of  Paul  with  mine 
own  hand,  which  is  the  token  in  every  epistle:  so  I 
write."  Hence,  also,  the  care  so  often  manifest  in* 
the  epistles,  to  designate  those  by  name  to  whom  the 
office  of  carrying  them  whither  they  were  addressed 
was  intrusted. 

*  Alexander  on  the  Canon,  p.  138,  etc. 


98  M'TLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

From  the  authorities  quoted  in  the  previous  lec- 
ture, it  must  be  full  in  your  reccllection  that  while 
the  agreement  of  the  ancient  churches  may  be  con- 
sidered to  have  been  complete,  so  far  as  is  important 
to  the  argument  for  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity; 
still,  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
authenticity  and  canonical  authority  of  the  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  of  the  epistle  of  James,  the  second  of 
Peter,  the  second  and  tliird  of  John,  the  epistle  of 
Jude,  and  the  book  of  Revelation.  This  diversity  was 
not  by  any  means  so  great  or  important  as  some  sup- 
pose. Had  it  not  been  for  the  great  care  and  candor 
of  those  early  Christians,  from  whom  we  learn  the 
fact,  it  would  have  seemed  of  too  limited  an  extent, 
and  too  inconsiderable  in  its  origin,  to  merit  any  more 
than  a  very  transient  notice  in  their  writings.  But 
wo  have  no  reason  to  regret  the  publicity  they  have 
given  it.  They  have  thus  put  into  our  hands  a  very 
strong  proof  of  the  discriminating  care  and  jealous 
vigilance  with  which  the  primitive  churches  investi- 
gated the  title  of  any  book  to  admission  into  the 
canon  of  the  New  Testament.  That  some  were 
doubted,  though  afterwards  universally  acknowledg- 
ed, exhibits  in  a  very  strong  light  the  certain  authen- 
ticity of  all  those  of  which  there  was  never  a  ques- 
tion. 

The  canonical  authority  of  the  six  epistles  above- 
named,  as  well  as  of  the  Apocalypse,  has  no  material 
connection  with  the  argument  of  the  ensuing  lectures. 
The  evidence  of  the  divine  origin  and  revelation  of 
Christianity  is  entirely  independent  of  the  question  of 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.      9-9 

their  authenticity.  Should  we  acknowledge  them  to 
be  spurious,  no  point  of  Christian  doctrine  or  duty 
would  be  removed  ;  no  gospel  truth  would  be  shaken ; 
no  evidence  of  divine  revelation  would  be  diminished. 
To  vindicate  their  authenticity  cannot,  therefore,  be 
required  of  a  lecturer  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity. 
It  is  the  appropriate  office  of  the  biblical  critic,  and 
belongs  to  discussions  on  the  canon  of  Scripture,  and 
to  the  prolegomena  of  a  commentary,  instead  of  the 
course  we  are  now  pursuing.  But  lest  the  mere 
statement  of  the  fact  that  doubts  were  once  enter- 
tained as  to  the  authenticity  of  these  writings,  should 
leave  on  some  minds  an  impression  unfavorable  to 
their  character  as  inspired  Scriptures,  it  will  be  well 
to  bestow  a  moment's  attention  on  the  amount  of  im- 
portance to  which  those  doubts  are  justly  entitled. 

With  regard  to  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  no 
question  was  entertained  as  to  its  being  the  work  of 
St.  Paul,  among  the  churches  of  the  earlier  centuries, 
except  those  of  the  Latin  Christians.  The  fact  that 
the  Arians  were  the  first  in  the  Greek  churches  who 
are  said  to  have  denied  that  it  was  written  by  St. 
Paul,  is  an  important  testimony  in  its  favor.  The 
objections  of  the  Latins  did  not  pretend  to  any  eccle- 
siastical tradition,  or  any  authority  of  earlier  churches, 
in  opposition  to  its  Pauline  origin ;  but  were  based 
entirely  on  its  internal  character,  and  especially  on 
the  handle  which  the  fourth  and  fifth  verses  of  the 
sixth  chapter  seemed  to  afford  the  sect  of  the  Mon- 
tanists,  in  vindication  of  their  prominent  doctrine,  that 
those  guilty  of  grievous  transgressions  should  be  irre- 


100  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

vocably  cut  off  from  the  church.  Hence  it  was  that 
Jerome  and  Augustine,  though  of  the  Latins,  could 
not  adopt  the  opinions  held  by  many  of  their  con- 
temporaries, being  convinced  of  their  incorrectness  by 
the  testimony  of  the  ancient  churches  to  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  epistle. 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  all  those  who  ques- 
tioned the  canonical  authority  of  this  epistle,  treated 
it  with  high  respect  as  a  Christian  and  very  ancient 
writing  of  the  apostolic  age,  if  not  by  an  apostle's 
hand.  They  ascribed  it  either  to  Barnabas  or  Clem- 
ent. But  for  this  they  had  no  testimony  to  appeal  to. 
On  the  contrary,  the  testimony  of  the  earliest  Chris- 
tian writers  is  very  decidedly  for  St.  Paul.  The 
fathers  of  the  Greek  church  unanimously  ascribed  it 
to  him.  Jerome,  of  the  fourth  century,  testifies  that 
it  was  received  as  a  production  of  that  apostle,  not 
only  by  the  eastern  churches,  but  by  all  the  Greek 
ecclesiastical  writers.  "  I  receive  it,"  said  he,  **  as 
genuine — guided  by  the  authority  of  the  ancient 
writers."  Eusebius,  the  historian  of  the  church  of 
the  fourth  century,  quotes  it  as  the  work  of  St.  Paul, 
and  says  it  had,  not  without  reason,  been  reckoned 
among  the  other  writings  of  the  apostle.  Theodoret 
positively  asserts  that  Eusebius  received  this  epistle 
as  St.  Paul's,  and  that  he  manifested  that  almost  all 
the  ancients  were  of  the  same  opinion.  Augustine 
said  "  he  followed  the  opinion  of  the  churches  of  the 
East,  who  received  it  among  the  canonical  Scrip- 
tures." Origen,  born  A.  D.  184,  expresses  his  opin- 
ion that  **  it  was -not  without  cause  that  the  ancients ^^'* 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    101 

that  is,  the  immediate  successors  of  the  apostles, 
"  regarded  this  as  an  epistle  of  Paul."  The  internal 
evidence  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  its  having  been  writ- 
ten by  that  apostle.  The  salutation  from  the  Jewish 
Christians  who  had  been  driven  out  of  Italy,  Heb. 
13 :  24,  and  the  mention  of  Timothy  as  his  fellow- 
traveller,  Heb.  13 :  23,  are  very  applicable  to  Paul. 
Not  only  does  the  general  scope  of  this  epistle  tend  to 
the  same  point  on  which  so  much  stress  is  laid  in  his 
other  writings,  that  we  are  justified  only  by  faith  in 
Christ,  and  that  the  works  and  institutions  of  the  law 
are  of  no  avail  to  our  salvation ;  but  there  are  also 
various  propositions  found  in  it  which  are  conspic- 
uous in  his  other  works.  The  same  characteristic 
warmth  and  energy  of  expression  appear  in  this  as  in 
all  writings  ascribed  in  the  New  Testament  to  the  pen 
of  St.  Paul.  Hebraisms  abound  in  it  as  in  his  other 
epistles.  It  contains  particular  expressions,  phrases, 
and  colocations  of  words,  which  are  either  peculiar  to 
him,  or  are  most  frequent  in  his  compositions.*  But 
as  this  is  not  the  place  to  do  justice  to  a  question  of 
so  much  importance,  and  yet  not  material  to  the 
argument  of  these  lectures,  I  must  refer  you,  for  fur- 
ther knowledge  and  satisfaction,  to  the  learned  work 
of  professor  Stuart  of  Andover,  on  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  or  to  an  excellent  article  in  the  "  Biblical 
Notes  and  Dissertations,"  recently  from  the  pen  of 
Joseph  John  Grurney,  of  the  society  of  Friends  in 
England. 

The  epistle  of  James,  being  addressed  to  Jewish 
*  Smucker's  translation  of  Storr  and  Flatt's  Bib.  Theo. 


102  M'ILVAINE"S  EVIDENCES. 

believers,  was  for  some  time,  to  a  considerable  extent 
unknown  to  the  gentile  Christians.  While  this  was 
the  case,  its  authenticity  was  questioned,  or  rather 
was  not  certified  among  the  Grentiles.  As  soon  as 
this  ceased  to  be  the  case,  its  authenticity  was  un- 
doubted. It  is  of  great  importance  to  the  character 
of  this  epistle,  that  in  the  Syriao  version,  made  at  the 
end  of  the  first  or  the  beginning  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, while  the  second  epistle  of  Peter,  the  second 
and  third  of  John,  and  the  Apocalypse,  are  omitted, 
the  epistle  of  James,  written  particularly  to  the  peo- 
ple for  whom  the  version  was  made,  is  included  and 
placed  on  an  equality  with  all  those  books  about 
which  there  was  never  a  question  in  the  church.  In 
proportion  as  it  became  known  among  the  gentile 
Christians,  it  passed  through  a  severe  and  accurate 
scrutiny,  till  in  a  short  time  it  was  universally  re- 
ceived, and  has  ever  since' been  universally  honored 
as  an  authentic  and  inspired  portion  of  the  oracles  of 
God. 

With  regard  to  the  remaining  epistles,  concerning 
the  authenticity  of  which  doubts  were  for  a  while 
entertained,  it  will  suflSce  to  remark  in  this  place, 
that  the  fact  of  their  not  having  been  immediately 
recognized  throughout  the  church  as  the  works  of  the 
apostles,  only  shows  that  the  persons  who  were  in 
doubt  had  not  yet  received  sufficient  information  to 
make  up  their  judgment ;  and  that  the  primitive 
Christians,  so  far  from  being  so  greedy  after  additions 
to  the  sacred  canon  as  to  be  easily  deceived  by  a 
plausible   pretension   to    apostolic   origin,  were    ex- 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    103 

tremely  deliberate  and  cautious  in  examining  every 
candidate  for  admission  into  the  catalogue  of  Scrij)- 
ture.  Such  being  the  case,  the  subsequent  reception 
of  these  epistles,  as  soon  as  full  time  was  given  them 
to  be  universally  circulated  and  known,  is  perfect 
proof  that  they  were  capable  of  enduring  the  most 
trying  investigation  of  their  inspired  origin,  and  were 
honored  with  a  unanimous  verdict  as  the  veritable 
writings  of  those  to  whom  they  were  ascribed,  and 
as  part  and  parcel  of  the  word  of  God.  The  reader 
may  find  abundant  satisfaction  with  regard  to  them, 
in  Dr.  A.  Alexander's  excellent  work  on  the  canon  of 
Scripture. 

It  has  been  stated,  that  at  one  period  doubts  were 
entertained  in  the  churches  as  to  the  authenticity  of 
the  book  of  Revelation.  Those  doubts  imply  no  defi- 
ciency of  testimony.  Until  the  fourth  century,  the 
character  of  this  book  was  undoubted,  and  its  author- 
ity was  universally  acknowledged;  only  one  writer 
questioning  whether  John  the  evangelist  was  its 
author,  and  even  he  admitting  that  it  was  written 
by  inspiration  of  Grod.  About  the  commencement  of 
the  fourth  century,  the  Millenarian  controversy  hav- 
ing arisen  and  distracted  the  churches,  and  the  mys- 
terious character  of  the  book  having  been  extensively 
employed  in  the  support  of  new  and  extravagant  doc- 
trines, its  character  declined  ;  and  without  any  refer- 
ence to  testimony  in  the  case,  its  authenticity  was 
by  some,  though  by  no  means  universally  or  for  a 
long  time,  brought  into  question.  Thus  Eusebius,  of 
that  century,  after  having  given  a  catalogue  of  the 


104  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

books  universally  acknowledged,  writes,  **  After  these, 
if  it  be  thought  fit,  may  be  placed  the  Revelation  of 
John,  concerning  which  we  shall  observe  the  different 
opinions  at  a  proper  time."  And  in  another  place, 
**  There  are,  concerning  this  book,  different  opinions." 
*'  This  is  the  first  doubt  expressed  by  any  respectable 
writer,  concerning  the  canonical  authority  of  this 
book  ;  and  Eusebius  did  not  reject  it,  but  would 
have  placed  it  next  after  those  which  were  received 
with  universal  consent.  And  we  find,  at  this  very 
time,  the  most  learned  and  judicious  of  the  fathers 
received  the  Revelation  without  scrapie,  and  annexed 
it  to  their  catalogues  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment."* It  is  of  no  small  importance  that  a  book  so 
fall  of  evidence  against  the  heresies  of  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Priestley,  should  have  received  from  his  pen  the 
following  testimony:  *' This  book  of  Revelation,  I 
have  no  doabt,  was  written  by  the  apostle  John. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  with  great  truth,  says  he  does  not 
find  any  other  book  of  the  New  Testament  so  strongly 
attested,  or  commented  upon  so  early  as  this.  In- 
deed, I  think  it  impossible  for  any  intelligent  and  can- 
did person  to  peruse  it  without  being  struck,  in  the 
most  forcible  manner,  with  the  peculiar  dignity  and 
sublimity  of  its  composition,  superior  to  that  of  any 
other  writing  whatever ;  so  as  to  be  convinced  that, 
considering  the  age  in  which  it  appeared,  none  but  a 
person  divinely  inspired  could  have  written  it."^  It 
is    true,    and    at    first    may   seem    surprising,   that 

*  Alexander  on  the  Canon. 

t  Priestley's  Notes  on  Scripture. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    105 

while  a  majority  of  the  ancient  catalogues  contain 
this  book,  there  are  many  in  which  it  is  omitted; 
though  it  is  known  that  the  authors  of  some  of  these 
acknowledged  its  authenticity.  The  omissions  are 
satisfactorily  explained  by  the  consideration  that  the 
object  of  these  catalogues  was  the  guidance  of  the 
people  in  reading  the  Scriptures ;  and  since  the  mys- 
teriousness  of  this  book,  and  the  use  made  of  it  on 
the  side  of  the  Millenarian  errors  when  the  catalogues 
were  chiefly  composed,  seemed  to  render  it  inexpedient 
that  it  should  be  as  generally  read  as  the  other  scrip- 
tures, its  name  was  excluded  from  several  lists  of 
books  for  universal  use,  without  any  intention  of  pro- 
nouncing upon  its  canonical  character. 

Having  now  exhibited  satisfactory  evidence  of  the 
authenticity  of  all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament, 
be  it  remarked,  that  while  every  part  of  the  sacred 
volume  is  of  inspired  authority,  and  therefore  of  such 
importance  as  that  no  man  can  take  away  from  it 
or  add  unto  it  without  heinous  offence  against  God ; 
still,  the  argument  for  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus 
and  for  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity  depends 
chiefly  upon  the  historical  portions^  and  would  ex- 
hibit no  deficiency  were  no  attention  paid  to  the 
authenticity  of  the  othera.  In  what  remains  to  be 
said,  by  way  of  addition  to  the  various  and  unequalled 
evidence  already  adduced,  we  shall  have  a  view  par^ 
ticularly  to  the  gospels  and  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

The    testimony   of    the    adversaries    of    Chris- 
tianity. 

It  may  be  said,  with  some  appearance  of  a  plan- 


106  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

sible  objection  to  the  testimony  hitherto  produced, 
that  it  is  all  derived  either  from  the  devoted  friends 
of  the  gospel,  or  else  from  those  who  professed  to  be 
its  disciples.  Is  there  no  testimony  from  enemies  ? 
The  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  widely  circu- 
lated ;  Christian  advocates,  in  their  controversies 
with  the  heathen,  freely  appealed  to  them  ;  heathens, 
in  their  works  of  attack  and  defence,  must  have 
spoken  of  them.  In  what  light  did  they  regard  them  ? 
Did  they  ascribe  them  to  their  reputed  authors ;  or 
did  they  question  their  authenticity  ?  Now  we  do  not 
grant  that  the  testimony  already  produced  is  justly  lia- 
ble to  the  least  disparagement  on  account  of  its  having 
been  derived  exclusively  from  the  friends  of  Christ. 
That  certain  ancients  believed  the  facts  contained  in 
Caesar's  Commentaries,  has  never  been  supposed  to 
diminish  the  value  of  their  testimony  to  the  authen- 
ticity of  that  work.  We  will  take  occasion,  by  and 
by,  to  show  that  the  very  fact  that  an  early  witness 
to  the  New  Testament  history  was  not  an  enemy, 
but  a  friend,  of  the  gospel,  and  had  become  a  friend 
from  having  been  once  an  enemy,  is  just  the  ingre- 
dient in  his  testimony  that  gives  it  peculiar  conclu- 
siveness. Still,  however,  we  are  under  no  temptation 
to  undervalue  the  importance  of  an  appeal  to  the 
opinions  of  adversaries.  Let  us  inquire  of  enemies 
as  well  as  friends — and  first,  of  Julian. 

Julian  the  emperor  united  intelligence,  learning, 
and  power,  with  a  persecuting  zeal,  in  a  resolute 
effort  to  root  out  Christianity.  In  the  year  361,  he 
composed  a  work  against  its  claims.     We  may  bo 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.    107 

well  assured  that  if  any  thing  could  have  been  said 
against  the  authenticity  of  its  books,  he  would  have 
used  it.  His  work  is  not  extant ;  but  from  long  ex- 
tracts found  in  the  answer  by  Cyril,  a  few  years 
after,  as  well  as  from  the  statements  of  his  opinions 
and  arguments  by  this  writer,  it  is  unquestionable 
that  Julian  bore  witness  to  the  authenticity  of  the 
four  gospels  and  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  He 
concedes,  and  argues  from,  their  early  date ;  quotes 
them  by  name  as  the  genuine  works  of  their  reputed 
authors ;  proceeds  upon  the  supposition,  as  a  thing 
undeniable,  that  they  were  the  only  historical  books 
which  Christians  received  as  canonical  —  the  only 
authentic  narratives  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and 
of  the  doctrine  they  delivered.  He  has  also  quoted, 
or  plainly  referred  to,  the  epistles  to  the  Romans, 
Corinthians,  and  Gralatians,  and  nowhere  insinuates 
that  the  authenticity  of  any  portion  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament could  reasonably  be  questioned.*  Let  us 
ascend  a  little  higher. 

Hierocles,  president  of  Bithynia,  and  a  learned 
man  of  about  the  year  303,  united  with  a  cruel 
persecution  of  Christians  the  publication  of  a  book 
against  Christianity,  in  which,  instead  of  issuing 
even  the  least  suspicion  that  the  New  Testament  was 
not  written  by  those  to  whom  its  several  parts  were 
ascribed,  he  confines  his  effort  to  the  hunt  of  internal 
flaws  and  contradictions.  Besides  this  tacit  acknow- 
ledgment, his  work,  or  the  extracts  of  it  that  remain, 
refer  to  at  least  six  out  of  the  eight  writers  of  the 

•  Lardiier,  vol.  4,  p.  341. 


108  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

books  of  the  New  Testament.*  Let  us  ascend  still 
higher. 

Porphyry,  universally  allowed  to  have  been  the 
most  severe  and  formidable  adversary  in  all  primitive 
antiquity,  wrote,  about  the  year  270,  a  work  against 
Christianity.  It  is  evident  that  he  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  New  Testament.  In  the  little 
that  has  been  preserved  of  his  w^ritings,  there  are 
plain  references  to  the  gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark, 
and  John,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  epistle 
to  the  Galatians.t  Sj^aking  of  Christians,  he  calls 
Matthew  their  evangelist.  ''  He  possessed  every  ad- 
vantage which  natural  abilities  or  political  situation 
could  afford,  to  discover  whether  the  New  Testament 
was  a  genuine  work  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists, 
or  whether  it  was  imposed  upon  the  world  after  the 
decease  of  its  pretended  authors.  But  no  trace  of 
this  suspicion  is  anywhere  to  be  found ;  nor  did  it 
ever  occur  to  Porphyry  to  suppose  that  it  was  spuri- 
ous."^ How  well  this  ingenious  writer  understood 
the  value  of  an  argument  against  the  authenticity 
of  a  book  of  Scripture,  and  how  greedily  he  would 
have  enlisted  it  in  his  wat  against  Christianity,  could 
he  have  found  such  a  weapon,  is  evident  from  his 
well-known  effort  to  escape  the  prophetic  inspiration 
of  the  book  of  Daniel,  by  denying  that  it  was  written 
in  the  times  of  that  prophet.  We  may  ascend  still 
higher. 

Celsus,  esteemed  a  man  of  learning  among  the 

•  Lardncr,  vol.  4,  p.  259.  t  Ibid.  4,  234. 

t  Marsh's  Michaelis,  1,  43. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    109 

ancients,  and  a  wonderful  philosopher  among  modern 
infidels,  wrote  a  labored  argument  against  the  Chris- 
tians. He  flourished  in  the  year  176,  or  about 
seventy-six  years  after  the  death  of  St.  John.  None 
can  accuse  him  of  a  want  of  zeal  to  ruin  Christianity. 
None  can  complain  against  his  testimony  as  deficient 
in  antiquity.  An  industrious,  ingenious,  learned 
adversary  of  that  age,  must  have  known  whatever 
was  suspicious  in  the  authorsliip  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment writings.  His  book  entitled,  ^'  The  True  Word," 
is  unhappily  lost ;  but  in  the  answer  composed  by 
Origen,  the  extracts  from  it  are  so  large,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  find  of  any  ancient  book,  not  extant,  more 
extensive  remains.  The  author  quotes  from  the  gos- 
pels such  a  variety  of  particulars,  even  in  these  frag- 
ments, that  the  enumeration  would  prove  almost  an 
abridgment  of  the  gospel  narrative.*  Origen  has 
noticed  in  them  about  eighty  quotations  from  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  or  references  to  them. 
Among  these  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  Celsus 
was  acquainted  with  the  gospels  of  Matthew,  Luke, 
and  John.  Several  of  Paul's  epistles  are  alluded  to. 
His  whole  argument  proceeds  upon  the  concession 
that  the  Christian  Scriptures  were  the  works  of  the 
authors  to  whom  they  were  ascribed.  Such  a  thing 
as  a  suspicion  to  the  contrary  is  not  breathed ;  and 
yet  no  man  ever  wrote  against  Christianity  with 
greater  virulence.  Hence  it  appears,  '*  by  the  tes- 
timony of  one  of  the  most  malicious  adversaries  the 
Christian  religion  ever  had,  and  who  was  also  a  man 

*  Doddridge,  in  Lardiier,  vol.  4,  pp.  145,  147. 


110  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

of  considerable  parts  and  learning,  that  the  writings 
of  the  evangelists  were  extant  in  his  time,  which 
was  the  next  century  to  that  in  which  the  apostles 
lived ;  and  that  those  accounts  were  written  by 
Christ's  own  disciples,  and  consequently  in  the 
very  age  in  which  the  facts  there  related  were  done, 
and  when  therefore  it  would  have  been  the  easiest 
thing  in  the  world  to  have  convicted  them  of  false- 
hood, if  they  had  not  been  true."*  '^  Who  can  for- 
bear," says  the  devout  Doddridge,  '^  adoring  the 
depth  of  divine  wisdom,  in  laying  up  such  a  firm 
foundation  of  our  faith  in  the  gospel  history,  in  the 
writings  of  one  who  was  so  inveterate  an  enemy  to 
it,  and  so  indefatigable  in  his  attempts  to  overthrow 
it?"^  Who,  I  will  add,  can  help  the  acknowledg- 
ment that  in  Celsus,  Porphyry,  Hierocles,  and  Jul- 
ian— all  of  them  learned  controversialists,  as  well 
as  devoted  opponents  and  persecutors  of  Christians, 
extending  their  testimony  from  the  seventieth  year 
after  the  last  of  the  apostles,  to  the  year  of  our  Lord 
361 — every  reasonable  demand  for  the  testimony  of 
enemies  is  fully  met,  and  a  gracious  Providence  has 
perfected  the  external  evidence  for  the  authenticity 
of  the  New  Testament  ? 

We  proceed  to  confirm  the  abounding  proof 
already  adduced,  by  a  brief  reference  to  the  lan- 
guage AND  STYLE  OF  THE  NeW  TeSTAMENT. 

1.  The  language  and  style  are  in  perfect  accord" 

*  Answer  to  "Christianity  as  Old  as  the  Creation,"  by 
Leland,  vol.  2,  chap.  5,  pp.  150-154. 

t  Doddridge,  in  Lardner,  vol.  4,  p.  147. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    Ill 

ance  with  the  local  and  other  circumstances  of  the 
reputed  writers.  They  were  Jews  by  birth,  Jews 
by  education,  Jews  by  numerous  and  strong  attach- 
ments, Jews  in  all  their  associations  of  thought  and 
feeling.  Jews  were,  in  great  part,  the  persons  to 
whom  they  wrote.  Jewish  prejudices,  objections, 
and  peculiarities  were,  to  a  great  extent,  the  ob- 
stacles in .  their  way.  The  religious  and  political 
instituti(3ns  of  the  Jewish  nation,  though  perfectly 
exterminated  in  a  few  years  after  they  wrote,  were 
in  full  establishment  till  after  the  death  of  all  of  them 
except  St.  John.  Hence  it  is  reasonably  expected 
that  Jewish  peculiarities  should  be  found  frequently 
and  broadly  stamped  upon  any  writings  truly  pro- 
fessing to  have  proceeded  from  their  pens.  Such, 
notoriously,  is  the  case  with  the  writings  of  the  New 
Testament.  None  but  Jews  could  have  composed 
them.  None  but  Jews  who  lived  before  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  temple  and  city  and  polity  and  nation 
could  have  cast  them  in  their  present  mould,  or 
marked  them  with  all  those  indescribable  and  in- 
imitable touches  of  a  Jewish  hand  which  their  style 
and  language  everywhere  exhibit.  The  use  of  words 
and  phrases  which  are  known  to  have  been  peculiar 
to  Judea  in  the  times  of  the-  apostles ;  the  continual, 
familiar,  and  natural  allusions  to  the  ceremonies  and 
temple-service  of  the  Jews,  as  then  existing,  and 
which  soon  passed  away;  the  universal  prevalence 
of  a  mode  of  thinking  and  of  expression,  which 
none  but  a  Jew  brought  up  under  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, always  accustomed  to  think  of  religion  through 


112  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  types  and  shadows  of  the  law,  and  reared  amidst 
the  usages,  prejudices,  associations,  and  errors  of  the 
Jewish  people,  as  subsisting  in  the  times  of  the  apos- 
tles, could  have  introduced  without  awkwardness  and 
obvious  forgery — all  bear  decided  witness  not  only 
that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  were  Jews 
originally  in  every  sense,  but  that  they  must  have 
formed  their  habits  of  thinking,  feeling,  and  writing, 
before  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  state  ;.  in  other 
words,  before  the  fortieth  year  after  the  death  of 
Christ,  From  that  time,  so  entirely  was  every  ves- 
tige of  the  religion  and  polity  of  the  Jews  destroyed, 
that  except  among  those  whose  minds  had  been 
moulded  under  preexisting  circumstances,  the  writ- 
ing of  a  book  in  the  language  and  style,  and  abound- 
ing in  the  peculiarities  of  the  New  Testament,  would 
have  been  at  least  next  to  impossible. 

This  conclusion  will  appear  the  more  inevitable, 
when  you  consider  the  characteristic  features  by 
which  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  is  distin- 
guished. In  the  times  of  the  apostles,  Greek  was 
almost  a  universal  language.  It  was  spread  over  all 
Palestine.  The  Jewish  coast  on  the  Mediterranean 
was  occupied  by  cities  either  wholly  or  half  Greek. 
On  the  eastern  border  of  the  land  from  the  Arnon  up- 
wards, towards  the  north  the  cities  were  Greek,  and 
towards  the  south  in  possession  of  the  Greeks.  Sev- 
eral cities  of  Judea  and  Galilee  were  either  entirely, 
or  at  least  half,  peopled  by  Greeks.  "  Being  thus 
favored  on  all  sides,  this  language-  was  spread,  by 
means  of  traffic  and  intercourse,  through  all  classes. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.    113 

SO  that  the  people,  though  with  many  exceptions, 
considered  generally,  understood  it,  although  they 
adhered  more  to  their  own  language."*  But  the  ^ 
Greek  thus  spoken  in  Palestine  was  not  like  that  of 
Attica,  nor  of  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor ;  but  having 
become  degenerated  in  consequence  of  its  associations 
with  people  whose  native  tongue  was  Hebrew,  by 
means  of  Chaldee  and  Syriao  intermixtures,  into 
Western  Aramean,  it  contained  a  large  $hare  of  the 
idioms  and  other  peculiarities  belonging  to  this 
heterogeneous  neighbor.  Such  was  the  language  in 
which  the  apostles  must  have  written.  Now,  if  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  be  their  writings,  they 
must  contain  the  characteristic  features  of  that  Pal- 
estine Grreek.  Such  is  most  manifestly  the  case. 
These  books  are  in  Greek,  not  pure  and  classic,  such 
as  a  native  and  educated  Grecian  would  have  written, 
but  in  Hebraic  Greek  ;  in  a  language  mixed  up  with 
the  words  and  idioms  of  that  peculiar  dialect  of  the 
Hebrew  which  constituted  the  vernacular  tongue  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Judea  and  Galilee-in  the  age  of  the 
apostles.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  were  the  language 
of  the  New  Testament  pure  and  classic,  then  the 
writers  must  have  been  either  native  and  educated 
Grecians,  or  else  Jews  of  much  more  Attic  cultiva- 
tion than  the  apostles  of  Christ.  In  either  case  a 
suspicion  would  attach  to  the  authenticity  of  our 
sacred  books.  Neither  case  being  true,  the  evidence 
of  authenticity  is  materially  confirmed. 

*  Hug  on  the  Greek  language  in  Palestine. — Bib.  Reposi- 
tory, No.  3 


114  M'lLVAlNE^S  EVIDENCES. 

But  we  go  further.  The  Greek  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament could  not  have  been  written  by  men  who  had 
learned  their  language  after  the  age  of  the  apostles. 
This  mingling  of  Grecian  and  Aramean,  as  it  is  pre- 
served in  the  New  Testament,^  ceased  to  be  the  fa- 
miliar tongue  of  Christians  in  Palestine  before  the 
death  of  St.  John.  When  Jerusalem,  with  the  whole 
civil  and  religious  polity  of  the  Jews,  was,  in  the 
seventeenth  year  of  the  Christian  era,  entirely  de- 
stroyed, and  the  descendants  of  Abraham  were  rooted 
out  of  the  land,  and  foreigners  came  in  from  all  quar- 
ters to  take  their  places,  the  language  of  the  country 
underwent  such  a  change,  that  except  with  the  scat- 
tered few  who  had  survived  the  desolation  of  their 
country,  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  was  no 
more  a  living  language.  When  St.  John  died,  there 
was  probably  not  a  man  alive  who  could  speak  or 
write  precisely  that  tongue.  In  the  second  century, 
an  attempt  to  compose  a  book  in  the  name  of  the 
apostles,  and  in  imitation  of  their  Greek,  would  have 
been  detected  as  easily  as  if  a  full-bred  Frenchman, 
never  out  of  France,  should  attempt  to  compose  a 
volume  in  a  dialect  of  English,  and  endeavor  to  pass 
it  off  as  the  work  of  a  plain,  sensible,  but  unpolished 
Yorkshireman.  Hence,  while  doubts  were  enter- 
tained for  a  while,  in  some  parts  of  the  church,  as  to 
the  authenticity  of  some  portions  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, it  was  never  doubted  whether  they  were  writ- 
ten by  men  who  had  lived  when  the  Greek  of  Pales- 
tine, as  it  had  been  in  the  apostolic  age,  was  yet 
alive. 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.    115 

2.  The  language  and  style  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  known  char- 
acters of  the  reputed  writers.  The  apostles  and 
evangelists  were  men  of  plain,  sound  understanding, 
but  without  any  polish  of  education,  and  not  likely 
to  adorn  their  writings  with  much  rhetorical  dress. 
Paul,  the  only  exception  to  this  character,  was  well 
read  in  Jewish,  and,  we  have  reason  to  telieve,  in 
Grecian  literature.  From  other  sources  besides  the 
New  Testament,  we  are  informed  of  certain  peculi- 
arities of  natural  character,  as  having  distinguished 
some  of  those  to  whom  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  ascribed.  John,  for  example,  is  always 
represented  in  ecclesiastical  history  as  having  been 
remarkable  for  meekness  and  gentleness,  and  a  man- 
ner and  spirit  full  of  mild  affection.  Paul,  we  always 
read  of  as  characterized  by  prompt,  energetic  zeal 
and  animated  boldness.  If  the  books  bearing  their 
names  were  written  by  those  apostles,  we  must  ex- 
pect to  find  in  them  the  distinctive  stamp  of  their 
respective  characters.  So  it  is.  In  the  historical 
books,  none  of  which  the  educated  Paul  composed^ 
there  is  no  ornament  of  style,  but  merely  the  sim- 
plicity and  directness  of  plain  sensible  men,  honestly 
relating  what  they  familiarly  knew,  and  disregard- 
ing style  in  their  intentness  upon  truth.  In  the 
epistles  of  Paul,  however,  the  case  is  entirely  differ- 
ent. There  we  behold  the  style  of  a  writer  brought 
up  in  the  schools,  though  obviously  in  the  schools  of 
Judea.  Accustomed  to  writing  and  to  argument,  he 
reasons  precisely  as  we  should  expect  of  Saul  of 


116  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Tarsus,  after  having  been  educated  at  the  feet  of 
Gamaliel,  and  arrested  by  divine  power  and  grace  on 
the  road  to  Damascus,  and  made  to  "  count  all 
things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
of  Christ."  Everywhere  in  the  epistles  bearing  his 
name,  are  written  the  strong  characters  of  the  pe- 
culiar zeal  and  boldness,  as  well  as  education,  that 
belonged  to  Paul;  while  throughout  the  writings 
ascribed  to  John,  there  breathes  the  sweet  spirit  of 
gentleness  and  tender  affection,  so  characteristic  of 
''  that  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved."  Similar  state- 
ments might  be  made  with  regard  to  other  writers  of 
the  New  Testament,  in  proportion  as  their  peculi- 
arities of  temperament  are  known  and  conspicuous. 

From  all  that  has  now  been  said,  it  may  easily  be 
made  to  appear,  that  if  the  historical  books  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  gospels  and  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
on  which  our  subsequent  argument  will  chiefly  de- 
pend, be  not  authentic — in  plainer  terms,  if  they  be 
forgeries,  nothing  less  than  a  miracle  can  account  for 
their  early  and  universal  currency.  Remember  that 
John  lived  to  the  end  of  the  fast  century.  It  cannot 
be  supposed  that  books  falsely  pretending  to  have 
been  written  by  those  very  evangelists  with  whom  he 
had  been  so  intimately  associated,  and  one  of  them 
professing  to  have  been  written  by  himself,  could 
have  gained  a  reputable  currency  in  the  churches 
while  he  lived.  He  certainly  knew  what  he  and  the 
other  evangelists  had  published ;  and  no  motive  can 
be  assigned  that  could  have  induced  him  to  suffer  a 
forgery  to  pass  unexposed.     We  conclude,  therefore, 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.    117 

that  if  these  books  be  not  authentic,  they  must  have 
been  palmed  on  the  churches  after  the  death  of  John ; 
that  is,  after  the  beginning  of  the  second  century. 
Suppose  we  descend  to  the  third.  Can  it  be  im- 
agined that  the  deception  was  introduced  after  this 
century  commenced?  Impossible  ;  since  by  this  time 
the  books  in  question  were  read  every  Lord's  day,  in 
all  the  churches,  quoted  by  writers  of  all  countries, 
universally  received  as  the  oracles  of  God.  If  a  de- 
ception was  introduced  at  all,  it  was  brought  in 
somewhere  between  the  death  of  John  and  the  third 
century — somewhere  in  the  course  of  the  second. 
Now,  to  obtain  a  clearer  view  of  the  difficulties  which 
such  an  attempt  must  have  had  to  overcome,  let  it 
be  supposed  that  during  the  present  year,  a  volume 
containing  a  digest  of  laws,  under  the  title  of  "Laws 
of  the  City  of  New  York,"  should  appear  among  us, 
pretending  to  be  a  code  of  municipal  regulations, 
composed,  about  seventy  years  ago,  by  a  few  of  the 
most  distinguished  inhabitants  of  that  period,  and  to 
have  been  received  by  the  citizens,  and  appealed  to 
in  their  municipal  courts  ever  since,  as  the  book  of 
the  laws  of  this  city ;  claiming,  moreover,  to  be  ac- 
knowledged and  obeyed  by  the  present  generation  as 
the  very  code  inherited  from  their  fathers;  what 
would  be  its  chance  ?  A  moral  impossibility  would 
prevent  its  success.  Nothing  but  lunacy  would 
undertake  such  a  scheme.  It  would  be  enough  for 
lawyers  and  judges  and  people  to  say,  **  It  was  never 
heard  of  before.  It  has  never  been  known  in  our 
courts."     But  this  is  odIv  a  feeble  illustration  of  the 


118  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

case  before  us.  If  the  books  in  question  were  forged 
in  the  name  of  the  evangelists,  you  must  suppose 
that  at  some  period  within  a  hundred  years  of  St. 
John,  while  many  were  living  who  had  either  known 
him  personally  or  conversed  with  those  who  did 
enjoy  that  privilege,  a  volume  appeared  among  the 
churches  differing  widely  from  those  books  which,  as 
works  of  the  evangelists,  they  had  received  and  read 
from  the  beginning,  and  yet  demanding  to  be  con- 
sidered as  nothing  more  nor  less  than  those  very 
works.  You  must  suppose  the  abettors  of  the  im- 
position to  have  said  to  the  various  nations  of  Chris- 
tians, ''  These  are  the  genuine  gospels  in  which  you 
were  educated ;  which  your  fathers  died  for ;  which 
your  persecutors  endeavored  to  destroy,  and  your 
martyrs  labored  to  save ;  which  have  been  daily  read 
in  your  families,  expounded  in  your  churches,  quoted 
in  your  writings,  and  appealed  to  in  all  your  contro- 
versies with  heretics  and  enemies."  And  yet  it  must 
be  supposed  that  Christians,  notwithstanding  their 
notorious  love  for  the  writings  of  the  evangelists,  and 
their  great  care  in  preserving  them,  were  so  easily 
and  universally  imposed  on,  as  never  to  perceive  that 
these  fraudulent  works,  instead  of  having  been  ex- 
pounded and  read  and  quoted  and  appealed  to  in  all 
their  churches,  had  never  been  heard  of  before.  You 
have  to  suppose,  moreover,  that  while  Christianity 
was  surrounded  on  all  sides  and  opposed  at  every 
step  by  keen-sighted  and  determined  enemies — Jews, 
on  the  one  hand,  with  all  their  cunning ;  Greeks  and 
Romans  on  the  other,  with  all  their  skill  and  power, 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.    119 

ever  watcliing,  accusing,  and  persecuting — none  of 
them  ever  pretended  to  the  discovery  that  these 
books,  so  fraudulently  introduced,  were  not  those 
which  the  apostles  wrote  and  Christians  had  always 
read  ;  hut  all  believed  them  to  be  the  identical  writ- 
ings to  which  the  churches  had  invariably  referred  as 
the  law  and  the  testimony. 

You  must  go  still  further,  and  suppose  that,  not- 
withstanding the  wide  publicity  which  the  genuine 
works  of  the  apostles  had  obtained  among  the  primi- 
tive churches,  so  immediately  did  these  spurious  pro- 
ductions expel  them  from  the  notice  and  recollection 
of  all  people,  that  no  interval  is  known  during  which 
the  question  between  the  two  conflicting  volumes 
was  so  much  as  even  debated.  You  must  suppose 
that  the  spurious  were  instantly  and  everywhere 
treated  with  the  reverence  belonging  to  inspired  books ; 
that  though  divers  sects  of  heretics  were  starting  up 
in  various  parts,  all  recognized  their  authority;  that 
the  churches  of  Rome,  Corinth,  Ephesus,  Colosse, 
Philippi,  Gralatia,  and  Thessalonica,  all  believed  that 
these  several  epistles,  falsely  pretending  to  have  come 
to  them  from  St.  Paul,  were  those  very  ones  the  auto- 
graphs of  which  were  then  in  their  possession,  and 
copies  of  which  they  had  been  continually  reading  in 
public  from  the  time  the  originals  were  received  from 
the  apostle.  Lastly,  it  must  be  supposed,  that  so 
perfect  was  the  forgery,  that  although  every  weapon 
and  artifice  that  wit  and  learning  and  power  could 
contrive,  has  been  employed  during  eighteen  hundred 
years,  for  the  single  purpose  of  undermining  the  foun- 


120  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

dations  of  Christianity,  no  one  of  its  enemies  has  yet 
succeeded  in  picking  a  flaw  in  the  authenticity  of  its 
books.  He  that  can  digest  all  this  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  that  our  sacred  writings  are  not  authen- 
tic, can  swallow  the  most  abject  absurdity.  He  sup- 
poses an  endless  succession  of  miracles  wrought  upon 
innumerable  minds  for  the  promotion  of  imposture. 
He  believes  the  laws  of  nature  to  have  been  continu- 
ally violated,  under  the  government  of  a  holy  Grod,  to 
countenance  unrighteousness.  In  sustaining  this  be- 
lief, he  must  adopt  a  principle,  with  regard  to  miracles^ 
the  boldness  and  novelty  of  which  even  Hume  would 
have  been  jealous  of.  He  was  so  modest  as  only  to 
maintain  that  no  testimony  can  prove  a  miracle. 
Here,  however,  the  sceptic  must  maintain  that  the 
most  absurd  miracle  can  be  proved,  not  only  without 
any  testimony,  but  against  all  testimony. 

Enough  has  now  been  said  to  enable  you  to  judge 
whether  the  learning  or  the  honesty  of  the  miserable 
Paine  is  most  to  be  admired,  when  he  says,  "Those 
who  are  not  much  acquainted  with  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, may  suppose  that  the  book  called  the  New  Tes- 
tament has  existed  ever  since  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ; 
but  the  fact  is  historically  otherwise.  There  was  no 
such  book  as  the  Neic  Testament  till  more  than  three 
hundred  years  after  the  time  that  Christ  is  said  to 
have  lived.^^  Whether  we  ought  to  save  this  poor 
sceptic  from  the  charge  of  a  gross  and  deliberate 
falsehood,  by  imputing  to  him  disgraceful  ignorance, 
I  leave  you  to  decide. 

And  now,  having  maintained  our  cause,  permit 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.    121 

me  to  say,  that  in  argument  with  unbelievers,  wo 
cannot  in  justice  be  required  to  present  any  of  the 
evidence  to  which  you  have  been  Hstening.  The 
whole  burden  of  proof  lies  with  the  objector.  Should 
the  authenticity  of  Paradise  Lost  be  called  in  ques- 
tion, no  believer  in  its  Miltonian  origin  would  feel 
himself  called  upon  to  prove  it.  We  should  wait  in 
calmness  till  the  sceptic  had  sustained  his  objection. 
The  book  has  lived  long  enough  with  a  fair  reputa- 
tion, to  be  considered  authentic  till  proved  to  be  spu- 
rious. So  would  common  justice  warrant  us  in  say- 
ing with  regard  to  the  New  Testament.  Eighteen 
centuries  of  high  and  holy  reputation  are  enough  to 
sustain  its  authenticity,  till  sceptics,  besides  pro^ 
nouncing^  shall  prove  it  a  forgery.  Let  the  objector 
be  kind  enough  to  state  the  proof  of  its  spuriousness ; 
let  him  show  the  deficiencies  in  its  evidence;  let  him 
establish  objections  to  its  legitimacy,  which  all  the 
enemies  that  surrounded  its  birth  were  unable  to 
venture;  then  will  it  be  time  for  friends  to  stand  on 
the  defensive  and  prove  its  apostolic  parentage.  But 
this  we  know  not  that  any  opposer  of  Christianity 
ever  pretended  to  have  done.  How  these  books  were 
forced  upon  the  world;  when  Christians  were  so 
asleep  as  not  to  perceive  that  they  were  not  the  books 
which  they  had  always  been  reading,  and  consulting, 
and  expounding,  and  loving,  and  suflering  for;  when 
the  enemies  of  Christians  were  so  miraculously  blind- 
ed, and  the  den  of  lions  in  which  the  church  for  so 
many  centuries  existed  was  so  miraculously  hushed 
and  overruled,  that  such  an  imposture  could  gain  ad- 


122  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

mission  and  dwell  in  universal  quietness,  without  so 
much  as  one  paw  to  pounce  on  the  prey  or  one  vigi- 
lant foe  to  discover  its  existence— z^/m^  is  the  evidence 
that  such  an  event  ever  took  place,  I  never  heard  of 
a  human  being  undertaking  to  show.  You  might  as 
well  pretend  to  prove  that  our  American  Declaration 
of  Independence,  circulated  in  numberless  copies 
through  the  country,  is  not  authentic — that  our  revo- 
lutionary fathers  published  no  such  document,  or  else 
that  ours  is  not  the  declaration  which  they  published. 
The  adversaries  of  Christianity  are  wary.  It  would 
require  learning  and  time  and  talents  to  make  even  a 
plausible  show  of  strength,  in  conflict  with  the  testi- 
mony to  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament ;  but 
it  takes  no  time,  requires  no  talent  or  knowledge,  for 
such  persons  to  insinuate  that  its  books  are  forgeries — 
to  put  out  a  wise  suspicion  that  they  were  not  writ- 
ten by  the  original  disciples.  No  argument  can  re- 
fute a  sneer,  nor  any  human  skill  prevent  its  mis- 
chief. They  know  that  many  a  mind  will  catch  the 
plague  of  infidelity  by  the  touch  of  their  insinuation, 
without  ever  finding,  or  caring  to  seek  the  antidote. 
Any  body  can  soil  the  reputation  of  an  individual, 
however  pure  and  chaste,  by  uttering  a  suspicion, 
which  his  enemies  will  believe,  and  his  friends  never 
hear  of.  A  puff  of  idle  wind  can  take  up  a  million  of 
the  seeds  of  the  thistle,  and  do  a  work  of  mischief 
which  the  husbandman  must  labor  long  and  hard  to 
undo,  the  floating  particles  being  too  trifling  to  be 
seen,  and  too  light  to  be  stopped.  Such  are  the  seeds 
of  infidelity,  so  easily  sown,  so  difficult  to  be  gathered 


INTEGRITY  OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT.         123 

np,  and  yet  so  pernicious  in  their  fruits.  It  is  the 
Avork  of  God,  much  more  than  of  man,  that  they  do 
not  spread  more  rapidly  and  widely.  The  hand  of 
divine  Providence  interposes  to  arrest  it,  where  the 
regular  array  of  human  reasoning  would  have  no 
room  to  use  its  strength. 

Here  we  should  leave  the  subject,  were  it  not  that 
one  question  of  importance  remains  to  bo  answered. 
How  do  we  know  that  the  New  Testament  has  pre- 
served its  integrity?  While  it  appears  so  conclu- 
sively that  our  present  books  are  verily  those  which 
the  evangelists  and  apostles  wrote,  and  the  primitive 
churches  loved  and  read,  how  does  it  appear  that  they 
have  undergone  no  material  alteration  since  those 
times?     On  this  head,  the  answer  is  complete. 

We  may  reason  from  the  perfect  impossibility  of 
any  material  alteration.  The  Scriptures,  as  soon  as 
written,  were  published.  Christians  eagerly  sought 
for  them,  copies  were  multiplied,  carried  into  distant 
countries,  esteemed  a  sacred  treasure,  for  which  dis- 
ciples were  willing  to  die.  They  were  daily  read  in 
families  and  expounded  in  churches;  writers  quoted 
them;  enemies  attacked  them;  heretics  endeavored 
to  elude  their  decisions;  and  the  orthodox  were  vigi- 
lant, lest  the  former  in  their  efforts  to  escape  the  in- 
terpretation should  change  the  text.  In  a  short  time, 
copies  were  scattered  over  the  whole  inhabited  portion 
of  the  earth.  Yersions  were  made  into  different  lan- 
guages. Harmonies  and  collations  and  commentaries 
and  catalogues  were  carefully  made  and  published. 
Thus  universal  notoriety,  among  friends  and  enemies, 


124:  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

was  given  to  every  book.  How,  in  such  circum- 
stances, could  material  alterations  be  made  without 
exposure?  If  made  in  one  copy,  they  must  have 
been  made  universally ;  or  else  some  unaltered  copies 
would  have  descended  to  us,  or  would  have  been 
noticed  and  quoted  in  ecclesiastical  history  and  the 
writings  of  ancient  times.  If  made  universally,  the 
work  must  have  been  done  either  by  friends^  or  by 
heretics^  or  by  open  enemies.  Is  it  supposable  that 
open  enemies^  unnoticed  by  Christians,  could  have 
altered  all  or  a  hundredth  part  of  the  copies,  when 
they  were  so  continually  read  and  so  affectionately 
protected?  Could  the  sects  of  heretics  have  done 
such  a  work,  when  they  were  ever  watching  one  an- 
other as  jealously  as  all  their  doings  were  continually 
watched  by  the  churches?  Could  true  Christians 
have  accomplished  such  a  task,  even  if  any  motive 
could-,  have  led  them  to  desire  it,  while  heretics  on 
one  hand,  and  innumerable  enemies  on  the  other,  were 
always  awake,  and  watchful  with  the  Scriptures  in 
their  hands  to  lay  hold  of  the  least  pretext  against 
defenders  of  the  faith?  It  was  at  least  as  unUkely 
that  material  alterations  in  the  New  Testament 
should  pass  unnoticed,  and  become  universal,  in  the 
early  centuries  and  in  all  succeeding  ones,  as  that  an 
important  change  in  a  copy  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  should  creep  into  all  the  copies  scat- 
tered over  the  country,  and  be  handed  down  as  part 
of  the  original  document,  unnoticed  by  the  various 
parties  and  jealousies  by  which  that  instrument  is  so 
closely  watohed  and  so  constantly  referred  to.     Such 


INTEaUlTY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.        125^ 

was  the  precise  assertion  of  a  writer  of  the  fourth 
century  on  this  very  subject.  *'The  integrity,"  says 
Augustine,  *'of  the  books  of  any  one  bishop,  however 
eminent,  cannot  be  so  completely  kept  as  that  of  the 
canonical  Scripture,  translated  into  so  many  lan- 
guages, and  kept  by  the  people  of  every  age;  and 
yet,  some  there  have  been  who  have  forged  writings 
with  the  names  of  apostles.  In  vain  indeed,  because 
that  Scripture  has  been  so  esteemed,  so  celebrated, 
so  known."*  Reasoning  with  a  heretic,  he  says,  ''If 
any  one  should  charge  you  with  having  interpolated 
some  texts  alleged  by  you,  would  you  not  immediately 
answer  that  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  do  such  a  thing 
in  books  read  by  all  Christians  ?  And  that  if  any 
such  attempt  had  been  made  by  you,  it  would  have 
been  presently  discerned  and  defeated  by  comparing 
the  ancient  copies?  Well,  then,  for  the  same  reason 
that  the  Scriptures  cannot  be  corrupted  by  you, 
neither  could  they  be  corrupted  by  any  other  peo- 
ple."t 

The  agreement  among  the  existing  manuscripts 
of  the  New  Testament  proves  that  this  holy  volume 
has  not  been  corrupted.  Of  no  ancient  classic  are  the 
extant  manuscripts  so  numerous,  as  those  of  the  New 
Testament.  Griesbach  in  making  his  edition  collated 
more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty.  These  were  writ- 
ten in  different  ages  and  countries.  Some  of  them 
are  as  old  as  the  fourth  or  fifth  century.  Some  con- 
tain all,  others  only  particular  books  or  parts  of  books 
of  the  New  Testament.  Several  contain  detached 
*  Lardner,  vol.  2,  p.  594.  t  Ibid.  9.  228. 


126  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

portions  or  lessons,  as  appointed  to  be  read  on  certain 
occasions  in  the  churches.  In  none  of  them  have  we 
any  thing  differing  in  essential  points  from  the  text 
at  present  received.  It  is  true,  and  it  sounds  to  un- 
informed ears  quite  alarming,  that  in  the  manuscripts 
collated  for  Griesbach's  edition  of  the  New  Testament, 
as  many  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  various 
readings  are  said  to  have  been  found.  But  all  alarm 
will  seem  gratuitous,  when  it  is  known  that  not  one 
in  a  thousand  of  these  various  readings  makes  any 
perceptible,  or  at  most,  any  important  variation  of 
meaning;  that  they  consist  almost  entirely  in  mani- 
fest mistakes  of  transcribers,  such  as  the  omission  or 
transposition  of  letters,  errors  in  pointing,  in  gram- 
mar, in  the  use  of  certain  words  instead  of  others  of 
similar  meaning,  and  in  changing  the  position  of 
words  in  a  sentence.  The  very  worst  manuscript, 
were  it  our  only  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  would 
not  pervert  one  Christian  doctrine  or  precept.  By 
all  the  omissions  and  all  the  additions  contained  in 
all  the  manuscripts,  no  fact,  no  doctrine,  no  duty, 
presented  in  our  authorized  version,  is  rendered  either 
obscure  or  doubtful.  The  diversity  of  readings  is 
ample  proof  that  our  present  manuscripts  were  made 
from  various  copies  in  ancient  times;  while  the  in- 
considerable importance  of  this  diversity  of  readings 
shows  how  nearly  those  copies  conformed  to  the  origi- 
nal Scriptures,  and  how  little  difference  would  be 
seen  between  our  present  New  Testament  and  the 
autographs  of  its  writers,  could  they  be  now  collated. 
No  ancient  book  has  preserved  its  text  so  uncorrupt 


INTEGRITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.         127 

as  those  of  the  New  Testament.  None  is  attended 
with  so  many  means  of  detecting  an  inaccurate  read- 
ing. A  common  reader,  could  he  compare  the  various 
manuscripts,  would  be  sensible  of  no  more  difference 
among  them  than  among  the  several  copies  of  his 
English  Bible,  which  have  been  printed  during  the 
last  two  hundred  years. 

The  uncorrupt  preservation  of  the  text  of  the  New 
Testament  is  also  evident  from  its  agreement  with 
the  numerous  quotations  in  the  works  of  early 
Christian  writers^  and  with  those  ancient  transla- 
tions which  are  now  extant.  In  the  remaining  books 
of  the  fathers  of  the  first  three  centuries,  quotations 
from  the  New  Testament  are  so  abundant,  that 
almost  the  whole  of  the  sacred  text  could  be  gathered 
from  those  sources.  Excepting  some  six  or  seven 
verses,  the  genuineness  of  wliich  is  not  perfectly  set- 
tled, there  is  an  exact  agreement  in  all  material 
respects,  between  those  quotations  and  the  corre- 
sponding parts  of  our  New  Testament.  The  same 
confirmation,  though  still  more  satisfactory,  is  de- 
rived from  ancient  versions.  We  possess,  in  various 
languages,  versions  of  the  New  Testament,  reaching 
as  far  back  as  the  early  part  of  the  second  century. 
The  MaBSo-Gothic  version,  discovered  by  Mai  in  1817, 
and  made  by  Ulphilas,  bishop  of  the  MaBso-Groths,  in 
the  year  370,  of  which  only  fragments  were  possessed 
before,  has  the  same  text  as  ours.  The  old  Syriac 
version,  called  Peshito,  is  considered  by  some  of  the 
best  Syriac  scholars  to  have  been  made  before  the 
close  of  the  first  century.     It  was  certainly  in  exist- 


128  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

ence  and  general  use  before  the  close  of  the  second. 
Though  never  brought  into  contact  with  our  copies 
of  the  New  Testament,  because  not  known  in  Europe 
till  the  sixteenth  century;  though  handed  down  by 
a  line  of  tradition  perfectly  independent  of,  and  un- 
known to,  that  by  which  our  Greek  Testament  was 
received ;  yet  when  the  two  came  to  be  compared, 
the  text  of  the  one  was  almost  an  exact  version  of 
the  text  of  the  other.  The  difference  was  altogether 
unimportant.  So  clearly  and  impressively  has  divine 
Providence  attested  the  integrity  of  our  beloved  Scrip- 
tures. 

It  is  now  high  time  we  had  relieved  your  atten- 
tion. You  will  allow  me  to  proceed,  in  the  subse- 
quent lectures,  on  the  belief  that  the  authenticity  and 
integrity  of  the  New  Testament  have  been  satis- 
factorily proved.  But  let  us  not  separate  without 
ackno.^ledging,  in  thankfulness  of  heart,  our  debt 
of  gratitude  to  Him  who,  on  a  subject  of  such  un- 
speakable importance,  has  given  us  such  abundant 
reason  for  complete  conviction.  He  has  made  the 
great  truth  for  which  we  have  been  contending, 
like  "  the  round  world,  so  sure  that  it  cannot  be 
moved." 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  OOSPELS.  129 


LECTURE  IV. 

^  CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPEL  HISTORY. 

In  the  last  two  lectures  our  attention  was  occupied 
with  the  authenticity  and  integrity  of  the  New 
Testament.  A  body  of  proof  was  presented,  of  such 
variety  and  conclusiveness  as  should  cause  us  to  feel, 
that  in  taking  these  important  points  for  granted  in 
our  subsequent  course,  we  assume  nothing  which 
every  candid  mind  should  not  acknowledge  to  have 
been  satisfactorily  established.  You  will  allow  me, 
therefore,  to  treat  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
as  needing  no  further  argument  to  prove  that  they 
were  written  in  the  age  to  which  they  are  ascribed, 
and  by  the  authors  whose  names  they  bear. 

But  it  should  be  remembered,  that  a  book  may 
be  authentic  and  yet  not  credible.  It  may  have 
been  written  indeed  by  the  reputed  author,  and  yet 
its  narrative  may  not  be  worthy  of  confidence.  This, 
I  say,  is  a  possible  case.  Examples  illustrating  it 
are  not  numerous.  So  generally  do  authentic  histo- 
ries prove  to  be  true,  that  when  we  have  ascertained 
a  book  to  have  been  composed  by  the  individual 
whose  name  is  on  it,  we  have  a  strong  presumptive 
argument  for  the  truth  of  all  the  conspicuous  and 
important  features  in  its  narrative.  But  inasmuch 
as  these  two  things  are  not  always  associated,  an 

6* 


130  M'lLVAlJ^lES  EVIDENCES. 

important  question  remains  to  be  determined  before 
we  can  open  the  New  Testament  as  the  book  of  the 
life  and  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  wor- 
thy of  entire  reliance  as  an  account  of  what  was 
done  and  taught  by  himself  and  his  apostles.  Does 
the  New  Testament  contain  a  true  history  of  events 
connected  with  the  ministry  of  Jesus  and  his  primi- 
tive disciples,  so  that  we  may  receive  as  historically 
accurate  whatever  is  related  therein?  This  refers  to 
what  is  usually  called  the  credibility  of  the  gospel 
HISTORY,  and  expresses  the  subject  of  our  present 
lecture. 

But  lest  the  bearing  of  my  remarks  should  not 
bo  distinctly  understood,  I  will  endeavor  to  state  the 
subject  still  more  precisely.  Observe,  then,  it  is  not 
the  inspiration  of  the  gospel  history,  or  that  it  was 
written  by  holy  men  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  we  are  now  to  prove ;  nor  that  it 
contains  a  revelation  from  God  ;  nor  that  its  doctrines 
are  true ;  nor  that  any  of  its  facts  were  miraculous : 
these  are  subjects  which  it  would  be  premature  to 
introduce  at  present.  All  at  which  we  now  aim,  is 
to  furnish  conclusive  evidence  that  the  gospel  history 
is  true^  in  the  same  sense  as  Marshall's  Life  of 
Washington  is  true — that  what  it  relates,  as  matter 
of  fact,  is  worthy  of  entire  reliance  as  matter  of 
fact,  independently  of  all  inferences  or  doctrines  with 
which  it  may  be  connected. 

How  do  we  prove  the  credibility  of  the  gospel 
history?  I  answer,  precisely  as  you  would  ascer- 
tain the  credibility  of  any  other  history.     Though, 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE   OOSPELS.  131 

as  ia  the  case  of  authenticity,  we  are  ready  to  pro- 
duce a  variety  and  an  abundance  of  evidence  far 
exceeding  what  the  best  established  and  the  most 
unquestionable  books  of  ancient  profane  history  can 
pretend  to,  still,  the  nature  of  the  evidence  is  the  same 
in  one  case  as  in  the  other.  The  fact  that  one  history 
is  called  sacred,  and  another  profane;  that  in  one  book 
the  actions  of  a  holy  and  extraordinary  philanthropist 
named  Jesus  are  related,  and  in  another  the  actions 
of  a  wicked  and  extraordinary  man-slayer  named 
Caesar,  occasions  not  the  least  difference  in  the  nature 
of  the  evidence  by  which  the  credibility  of  both  must 
be  ascertained. 

Here  it  would  be  perfectly  safe  and  reasonable  to 
rest  the  question  of  credibility  uiK>n  the  proof  arrived 
at  in  the  last  lecture.  Although  it  does  not  follow, 
in  all  cases,  that  to  prove  a  book  authentic,  is  to 
prove  it  credible  also  with  regard  to  its  principal 
events ;  yet,  in  the  case  before  us,  the  fact  that  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  were  written  in  the  first 
century  of  Christianity,  and  by  the  apostles  and 
original  disciples  of  Christ,  is  complete  evidence  that 
in  respect  to  the  main  events  of  the  gospel  history 
they  are  true.  If  one  should  write  a  romance,  call- 
ing it  the  memoir  of  some  well-known  and  distin- 
guished personage,  and  publish  it,  not  as  grave,  cred- 
ible biography,  but  under  the  character  of  a  novel, 
the  authenticity  of  the  work  would  have  no  connec- 
tion with  its  truth.  But  should  he  issue  a  book  pro- 
fessing to  be  the  true  biography  of  Washington ; 
should  he  vouch  in  every  way  for  its  truth,  and  stake 


132  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

his  reputation  upon  its  accuracy,  in  the  midst  of  a 
generation  familiar  with  the  life  of  that  noble  man, 
and  still  containing  some  who  were  his  companions 
and  the  eye-witnesses  of  many  of  his  deeds,  it  would 
be  reasonably  inferred,  that  unless  the  author  were 
an  idiot  or  a  madman,  his  work  must  be  correct,  at 
least  in  the  great  mass  of  its  statements  and  in  all 
its  conspicuous  events.  He  must  be  aware  that, 
under  such  circumstances,  no  important  narrative 
without  truth  could  escape  detection.  The  fact, 
therefore,  that  he  has  published,  in  the  midst  of  this 
generation,  what  he  expects  to  be  received  as  a  cor- 
rect biography  of  Washington,  is  sufficient  warrant 
that,  however  inaccurate  it  may  be  in  minute  details, 
and  however  deficient  in  many  respects  of  good  writ- 
ing and  useful  history,  we  may  safely  receive  its 
principal  narratives.  Such  a  thing  cannot  be  pro- 
duced as  a  book  published  in  the  age  in  which  its 
events  are  said  to  have  occurred,  and  among  the 
people  to  whose  minds  those  events  are  said  to  have 
been  familiar — a  book  which  its  author  gravely 
avowed  and  defended  as  true  and  accurate,  and  yet 
which,  in  its  principal  narratives,  in  its  prominent 
characters  and  occurrences,  was  not  in  accordance 
with  fact.  Men  have  too  much  sense,  if  not  too 
much  honesty,  to  attempt  such  a  Quixotic  adventure ; 
especially  when  character  and  worldly  interests  are 
committed  by  the  falsehood.  But  there  is  no  book 
to  which  this  remark  is  so  applicable  as  the  New 
Testament.  Not  only  was  it  published  in  the  age  in 
which  the  events  related   are  asserted  to  have  oc- 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  133 

curred,  and  among  the  people  to  whom  they  are  said 
to  have  been  notorious,  but  in  an  age  and  among  a 
people  awake  to  the  whole  subject  of  its  history, 
determined  to  sift  its  correctness  to  the  uttermost, 
capable  of  the  severest  scrutiny,  and  anxious  to  take 
advantage  of  the  smallest  inaccuracy.  This  the 
writers  were  perfectly  aware  of.  They  must  have 
known  that  in  the  brevity  of  the  history^  in  the  few- 
ness of  its  principal  facts,  in  the  great  prominence 
and  notoriety  of  each,  in  the  few  persons  to  whom 
they  belong  as  their  leading  agents,  in  the  few  places 
and  the  confined  region  in  which  they  are  said  to 
have  occurred,  and  in  the  brief  space  of  time  within 
which  they  were  all  embraced,  their  adversaries 
possessed  advantages  for  investigation  which  nothing 
but  bold  and  plain  truth  could  confront,  and  no  fic- 
tion could  possibly  elude.  That  in  the  face  of  all 
these  advantages,  they  did  publish,  and  stake  their 
characters  and  lives  upon  the  correctness  of  their 
narratives,  is  a  full  warrant  that  they  published  truth. 
This  argument  can  only  be  escaped  by  charging  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  with  a  degree  of  idiocy 
or  madness,  which  the  eminent  wisdom  and  excel- 
lence of  their  works  prove  to  have  been  impossible. 
I  venture  to  say,  that  should  the  same  argument  be 
alleged  with  equal  force  in  behalf  of  any  other  ancient 
book  of  history,  its  credibility  as  to  the  main  events 
related  would  be  considered,  independently  of  any 
other  evidence,  as  placed  beyond  a  reasonable  sus- 
picion. 

Here,  then,  we  might  proceed  to  open  the  New 


13i  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Testament  as  a  book  of  correct  narrative ;  certified 
that,  because  authentic,  it  is  therefore,  as  to  all  im- 
portant matters  of  fact,  credible.  But  we  are  not 
restricted  to  a  single  method  of  proof.  The  subject 
is  compassed  about  with  a  cloud  of  witnesses.  We 
take  up  another  and  broader  plan  of  argument,  the 
force  of  which  none  can  mistake. 

Let  me  ask  by  what  sort  of  evidence  you  would  feel 
assured  of  the  credibility  of  any  history  professing 
to  relate  events  of  a  past  age  ?  Suppose  you  should 
discover  a  volume  hitherto  concealed,  professing  to 
have  been  written  by  some  well-known  individual  of 
the  Augustan  age,  and  to  contain  a  narrative  of 
events  in  the  personal  history  and  domestic  life  of 
Augustus  CsBsar.  You  would  first  examine  into 
its  authenticity.  That  settled,  you  would  inquire 
into  the  credibility  of  its  narrative.  The  first  ques- 
tion would  be,  did  the  writer  possess  every  advantage 
of  knowing  the  events  in  the  personal  history  of 
Augustus  ?  May  I  depend  on  the  sufficiency  of  his 
knowledge?  Now,  he  may  not  have  lived  with 
Augustus,  and  yet  his  knowledge  may  have  been 
perfectly  adequate.  But  your  mind  would  be  fully 
satisfied  on  this  head,  should  it  appear  that  the  writer 
was  not  only  a  contemporary,  but  that  he  was  do- 
mesticated with  Augustus — conversed  familiarly  with 
him,  lived  at  his  table,  assisted  at  his  councils,  ac- 
companied him  on  his  journeys. 

The  question  of  adequate  knowledge  being  thus 
at  rest,  another  would  remain :  May  I  depend  on 
the  honesty  of  the  writer  ?     In  ordinary  cases,  you 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  135 

would  be  satisfied  if  nothing  appeared  in  the  "book 
itself,  or  in  the  testimony  of  contemporaneous  writ- 
ings, impeaching  his  honesty.  But  your  satisfaction 
would  be  much  increased  should  you  discover,  in  the 
style  and  spirit  of  the  narrative,  in  its  simplicity, 
modesty,  and  freedom  of  manner,  in  the  circum- 
stantial character  of  its  details  and  the  frequency  of 
its  allusions  to  time,  place,  and  persons,  those  inter- 
nal features  of  honesty  which  it  is  so  extremely  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  counterfeit.  Your  confi- 
dence would  grow  exceedingly  if,  on  a  comparison  of 
the  book  with  other  well-established  histories  of  the 
same  times,  you  should  discover  not  only  that  there 
is  no  contradiction  in  any  particular,  but  that  all  its 
allusions  to  the  customs,  institutions,  prejudices,  and 
poUtical  events  of  the  times,  are  abundantly  con- 
firmed from  other  sources.  This  would  set  the 
honesty  of  the  writer  in  a  very  favorable  light. 

But  suppose,  that  at  this  stage  you  should  dis- 
cover three  other  books  upon  the  same  subject,  each 
evidently  written  by  a  person  in  the  family  and 
confidence  of  Augustus,  or  else  with  equally  favorable 
opportunities  of  knowing  him — each  evidently  an 
independent  work,  and  having  all  the  inward  and 
outward  marks  of  truth  before  detailed.  Suppose, 
that  on  comparing  these  four  histories  together,  ypu 
find  that  while  each  contains  some  minor  facts  which 
the  others  do  not,  and  relates  in  its  own  style  and 
language  what  all  contain  in  common,  there  is  yet 
no  disagreement  among  them ;  but  on  the  contrary, 
the  most  perfect  confirmation  one  of  another.    Surely, 


136  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

after  this  no  farther  evidence  could  be  demanded  of 
the  veracity  of  all  those  historians.  But  still,  though 
you  would  have  no  right  to  require,  you  might  per- 
haps discover  additional  evidence.  You  might  search 
collateral  history  for  the  private  characters  of  those 
writers  ;  and  how  would  it  heighten  your  satisfaction 
to  find  that  universally  they  were  esteemed  beyond 
reproach,  even  by  their  personal  opponents.  You 
might  also  inquire  what  motive  they  could  have  had 
for  deception ;  and  how  conclusive  w^ould  it  seem  in 
their  favor  to  discover,  that  so  far  from  any  suspicion 
of  such  a  motive  attaching  to  them,  they  had  under- 
taken to  publish  what  they  did  with  the  certainty  of 
sacrificing  every  thing  earthly,  and  actually  plunged 
themselves  by  it  into  poverty,  contempt,  and  suffer- 
ing. One  can  hardly  imagine  stronger  evidence  of 
truth.     None  could,  with  any  reason,  require  it. 

But  yet  there  might  be  additional  evidence. 
These  historians  perhaps  had  many  and  bitter  per- 
sonal adversaries.  How  did  they  treat  their  books  ? 
The  books  were  published  during  the  lifetime  of 
many  who  had  seen  Augustus,  and  had  witnessed 
the  principal  events  described ;  they  were  published 
in  the  very  places  where  those  events  took  place,  and 
in  the  midst  of  thousands  who  knew  all  about  them. 
How,  then,  did  their  enemies  treat  these  histories? 
Now,  should  you  discover  that  the  personal  adver- 
saries of  these  four  writers,  however  disposed,  were 
unable  to  deny,  but  on  the  contrary  acknowledged, 
assumed,  and  reasoned  upon  their  narratives  as  true ; 
and  furthermore,  that  the  thousands  who  had  wit- 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE   GOSPELS.  137 

nessed  the  principal  events  recorded,  never  contra- 
dicted those  narratives,  but  in  numerous  instances 
afforded  all  the  confirmation  they  were  capable  of ;  I 
am  sure  you  would  think  the  whole  evidence  for  the 
credibility  of  those  four  histories  not  only  conclusive, 
but  singularly  and  wonderfully  so. 

I  have  thus  sketched  a  mass  of  evidence,  and  a 
variety  of  adequate  evidence,  which,  were  the  half  of 
it  required  for  any  book  of  ancient  history  but  the 
Bible,  would  bring  its  credibility  into  utter  condem- 
nation. If  a  book,  with  all  this  in  its  favor,  ought 
not  to  be  believed,  historical  truth,  or  the  possibility 
of  ascertaining  it,  must  be  given  up.  But  who 
would  think  of  resisting  such  evidence?  What 
would  be  thought  of  the  intellect,  not  to  speak  of 
the  candor  of  the  man  who,  with  all  this  before  him, 
should  take  up  the  memoir  of  the  life  of  Augustus 
CsBsar,  as  above  supposed,  and  not  feel  that  it  were 
the  absurdest  folly  to  question  the  accuracy  of  its 
statements?  In  laying  out  this  sketch,  I  have  ex- 
hibited a  general  view  of  the  evidence  for  the  credi- 
bility of  the  gospel  history.  In  proceeding  to  more 
particular  details,  I  hope  to  show  you  that  every 
branch  of  the  evidence  I  have  glanced  at,  however 
vain  to  seek  it  in  favor  of  any  other  ancient  history, 
can  be  cited  in  attestation  of  the  credibility  of  that  in 
the  New  Testament. 

From  the  brief  view  we  have  taken  of  the  evi- 
dence which  may  be  brought  for  the  credibility  of 
any  historical  document,  it  appears  that  the  great 
points  to  be  made  out  in  favor  of  the  writer  are  these 


138  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

two :  compel e7it  knowledge  and  trustworlhy  honesly. 
Did  he  know  enough  to  write  a  true  account  ?  and 
then,  was  he  honest  enough  to  be  unable  to  write 
any  other  than  a  true  account?  Establish  these, 
and  the  book  is  established — the  question  is  closed. 
Let  us  take  this  plan  as  to  the  history  before  us. 
We  have  several  independent  writings  containing  the 
gospel  history.  Let  us  select  that  of  St.  John,  and 
try  the  question  first  upon  it.  We  begin,  then,  with 
this  most  important  inquiry  : 

I.  Had  the  writer  of  this  book  sufficient  oppor- 
tunities OF  POSSESSING  ADEQUATE  KNOWLEDGE  AS  TO 
THOSE   MATTERS   OF   FACT   WHICH   HE    HAS   RELATED  ?       I 

do  not  suppose  that  much  array  of  argument  can  be 
necessary  to  prove  that  he  had  every  opportunity.  It 
is  to  be  first  considered,  that  the  amount  of  know- 
ledge required  to  enable  John,  or  either  of  the  other 
evangelists,  to  give  an  accurate  account  of  so  much 
of  the  life  of  Christ  and  of  the  transactions  connected 
with  his  cause  as  he  has  embraced  in  his  narrative, 
was  not  very  considerable.  The  gospel  history  is 
contained  in  a  small  space.  Thirty  pages  of  a  com- 
mon family  Bible  comprise  the  whole  of  what  John 
has  related.  It  is  a  plain,  straightforward  account 
of  a  very  simple,  intelligible  train  of  events.  There 
are  no  labyrinths  of  historical  truth  to  trace  out ; 
no  perplexed  involutions  of  circumstances  to  unravel. 
Consequently,  when  you  consider  that  John,  by  the 
testimony  of  all  tradition,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
gospel  history,  was  a  member  of  the  household  of 
Christ — admitted  into  his  most  unreserved  and  affec- 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE   aOSPELS.  139 

tionate  intercourse — the  disciple  whom  he  specially- 
loved,  who  accompanied  him  in  all  his  journeyings, 
followed  him  into  his  retirements,  stood  beneath  his 
cross,  and  w^as  a  constant  companion  of  the  other 
disciples,  and  a  witness  of  their  actions — -you  will 
readily  grant  that  John  must  have  possessed  all 
desirable  opportunities  of  knowing,  and  must  actually 
have  known  the  gospel  history  so  perfectly  as  to  be 
fully  competent  to  write  an  accurate  account.  I 
shall  therefore  refrain  from  any  further  remarks  upon 
this  branch  of  the  argument,  and  shall  pass  to  the 
second,  in  entire  confidence  that  I  leave  no  mind  in 
any  reasonable  doubt  of  the  adequateness  of  our  his- 
toriari's  knowledge. 

II.  The  second  and  the  main  question  to  be  pur- 
sued is  this :  Have  we  reason  to  rely  with  implicit 

CONFIDENCE     UPON     THE     HONESTY    OF    THIS    HISTORIAN  ? 

Believing  him  to  have  known  enough  to  relate  the 
truth,  may  we  also  believe  that  he  w^as  too  honest  to 
relate  any  thing  but  the  truth  ?  This  is  a  fair  and 
plain  question.  Prove  the  negative,  and  John's  his- 
tory must  be  given  up.  Prove  the  affirmative,  and 
it  is  '*  worthy  of  all  acceptation.'*  We  begin  the 
argument  for  the  aflSrmative  with  the  history  itself. 
There  are  certain  characteristic  marks  of  historical 
honesty  which  can  hardly  be  counterfeited  to  any 
extent,  and  always  produce  a  favorable  impression. 
Take  up  the  history  written  by  St.  John.  I  call 
your  attention  to  the  obvious  facts  that, 

1.  Its  narrative  is  in  a  very  high  degree  circum^ 
stantiaL     A  false  witness  will  not  need  to  be  cau- 


140  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tioned  against  the  introduction  of  many  minute 
circumstances  into  his  statement.  The  more  he 
connects  it  with  the  particulars  of  time  and  place 
and  persons,  so  as  to  locate  his  facts,  and  bring  in 
living  men  as  associated  with  them,  the  more  does 
he  multiply  the  probabilities  of  detection.  He  gives 
the  cross-examination  every  advantage.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  a  false  statement  abounding  in  such 
details,  and  at  the  same  time  exciting  general  interest 
in  the  neighborhood  where,  and  soon  after  they  are 
alleged  to  have  occurred,  to  escape  exposure.  Conse- 
quently, when  we  take  up  a  narrative  thus  minutely 
circumstantial,  and  which  we  are  sure  did  excite 
among  all  classes  where  its  events  are  located,  the 
very  highest  and  most  scrutinizing  interest,  and  that 
too  within  a  short  time  after  the  period  to  which  the 
events  are  referred,  we  always  feel  impressed  with  a 
strong  persuasion  that  the  writer  had  the  conscious- 
ness of  truth  and  the  fearlessness  of  honesty.  It  is 
evident  that  he  had  no  disposition,  and  therefore  no 
cause,  to  shun  the  closest  investigation.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  you  take  up  any  books  professing  to  be 
histories  of  events  within  the  reach  and  investigation 
of  those  among  whom  they  were  first  published,  but 
yet  in  a  great  measure  untrue,  you  will  find  a  great 
deficiency  of  such  minute  details  of  time,  place,  and 
persons,  as  would  serve  to  test  their  faithfulness. 
Compare  them  with  the  histories  of  the  Peloponnesian 
and  Gallic  wars,  by  Thucydides  and  Julius  Caesar, 
and  you  will  see  directly  how  strong  a  feature  of  true 
narrative,  in  distinction  from  whatever  is  in  a  great 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  141 

degree  invented,  is  a  circumstantial  detail  of  minute 
particulars. 

Generality  is  the  cloak  of  fiction.  Minuteness  is 
the  natural  manner  of  truth,  in  proportion  to  the 
importance  and  interest  of  the  subject.  Such  is  the 
precise  manner  and  continual  evidence  of  the  honesty 
of  St.  John.  His  history  is  full  of  the  most  minute 
circumstances  of  time,  place,  and  persons.  Does  ho 
record,  for  example,  the  resuscitation  of  Lazarus? 
He  tells  the  name  of  the  village,  and  describes  the 
particular  spot  where  the  event  occurred.  He  gives 
the  names  of  some  of  the  principal  individuals  who 
were  present,  mentions  many  unbelieving  Jews  as 
eye-witnesses,  states  the  precise  object  for  which  they 
had  come  to  the  place,  what  they  did  and  said,  the 
time  the  body  had  been  buried,  how  the  sepulchre 
was  constructed  and  closed,  the  impression  which  the 
event  made  upon  the  Jews,  how  they  were  divided 
in  opinion  in  consequence  of  it,  the  particular  expres- 
sions of  one  of  them  whose  name  is  given,  and  the 
subsequent  conduct  of  the  Jews  in  regard  to  Lazarus. 
This,  you  perceive,  is  being  very  circumstantial.  It 
is  only  a  specimen  of  the  general  character  of  St. 
John's  gospel.  It  looks  very  much  as  if  the  writer 
were  not  afraid  of  any  thing  the  people  of  Bethany,  pr 
the  survivors  of  those  who  had  been  present  at  the 
tomb  of  Lazarus,  or  the  children  of  any  of  them, 
might  have  to  say  with  regard  to  the  resurrection. 
Now,  when  you  consider  that  John's  history  was 
widely  circulated  while  many  were  yet  living  in 
Bethany,  who,  had  these  events  never  occurred,  must 


142  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

have  known  it,  and  among  a  people  who  in  addition 
to  every  facihty  had  every  desire  to  find  out  the  least 
departure  from  truth,  I  think  you  will  acknowledge 
that  the  circumstantial  character  of  this  book  is  very 
strong  evidence  that  the  author  must  have  written 
in  the  confidence  of  truth. 

2.  Another  striking  evidence  to  the  same  point 
is  seen  in  this,  that  the  author  exhibits  ?io  conscious' 
ness  of  narrating'  any  thing  ahotit  ivhich,,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  notorious  fact^  there  was  the  smallest  doubt. 
He  takes  no  pains,  evinces  no  thought  of  attempting 
to  convince  his  reader  of  the  truth  of  what  he  relates. 
On  the  contrary,  the  whole  narrative  is  conducted 
with  the  manner  and  aspect  of  one  who  takes  for 
granted  the  entire  notoriety  of  his  statements.  He 
comes  before  the  public  as  one  familiarly  known, 
needing  no  account  of  himself  or  of  his  pretensions  to 
universal  confidence.  He  goes  straight  forward  with 
his  story,  delivering  the  least  and  the  most  wonderful 
relations  in  the  same  simple  and  unembarrassed  man- 
ner of  ease  and  confidence,  which  nothing  but  an 
assurance  of  unimpeachable  consistency  can  explain. 
Nothing  is  said  to  account  for  what  might  seem 
inexplicable — to  defend  what  would  probably  be  cav- 
illed at — to  anticipate  objections  which  one  feeling 
himself  on  questionable  ground  would  naturally  look 
for.  The  writer  seems  to  be  conscious,  that  with 
regard  to  those  for  whom  especially  he  wrote,  all  this 
were  needless.  He  is  willing  to  commit  his  simple 
statement  alone,  undefended,  unvarnished,  into  the 
liands  of  friend  or  foe. 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  143 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  this  connection, 
than  that  while  he  could  not  have  been  ignorant  that 
he  was  relating  many  very  extraordinary  and  won- 
derful events,  he  shows  no  wonder  in  his  own  mind, 
and  seems  to  expect  no  wonder  among  his  readers. 
This  looks  exceedingly  like  one  who  writes,  not  of 
extraordinary  events  just  contrived  in  his  own  imagi- 
nation, but  of  extraordinary  events  which,  whatever 
the  wonder  they  excited  when  first  known,  are  now 
perfectly  familiar  not  only  to  himself,  but  to  his  read- 
ers. It  is  one  thing  to  relate  a  series  of  astonishing 
occurrences  which  we  feel  are  perfectly  new  to  the 
readers,  and  a  very  different  thing  to  relate  the  same 
to  those  who  have  long  since  been  familiarly  ac- 
quainted with  their  prominent  particulars,  and  desire 
only  a  more  circumstantial  and  confidential  account. 
In  the  former  case,  the  writer  would  naturally  and 
almost  necessarily  betray  in  his  style  and  the  whole 
texture  of  his  statement  an  expectation  of  the  wonder 
and  probable  incredulity  of  his  readers.  In  the  lat- 
ter, ho  would  deliver  his  narrative  as  if  he  were  think- 
ing only  of  an  accurate  detail  of  truth,  without  par- 
ticular reference  to  whether  it  were  astonishinsr  or 
the  contrary.  Thus  it  is  with  St.  John.  There  is  no 
appearance  of  his  having  felt  as  if  any  of  his  gospel 
would  be  new,  or  would  excite  any  new  emotions  of 
wonder  in  his  readers.  The  marvellous  works  of 
Christ  were  at  that  time  notorious.  When  first  heard 
of,  they  excited  universal  astonishment.  ^'  His  fame 
went  abroad,  and  all  the  people  were  amazed."  But 
so  much  time  had  now  elapsed,  that  emotions  of 


144  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

wonder  had  subsided,  under  the  influence  of  repeti- 
tion and  familiarity.  In  striking  consistency  with 
this  is  the  whole  aspect  of  St.  John's  narrative.  He 
goes  directly  forward  in  the  relation  of  events,  in 
themselves  exceedingly  impressive  and  astonishing, 
exhibiting  no  sign  of  any  astonishment  in  his  own 
mind,  anticipating  none  in  his  contemporaneous  read- 
ers. How  is  this  to  be  explained  ?  One  can  discover 
no  plausible  explanation  but  in  the  supposition  that 
he  was  conscious  of  recording  events  with  which,  in 
their  chief  particulars,  the  public  mind  had  been 
entirely  familiarized.  This  may  deservedly  be  con- 
sidered a  strong  indication  of  truth. 

3.  I  see  another  plain  evidence  to  the  same  point, 
in  the  minute  accuracy  which  marks  all  the  allu- 
sions of  this  narrative  to  the  manners^  customs^  opin- 
ions^ political  events^  and  other  circumstances  of  the 
times.  The  situation  of  Judea  in  the  time  of  the 
Saviour,  was  such  as  to  bring  it  frequently  under  the 
eye  of  the  profane  writers  of  that  age.  From  them 
we  derive  a  great  many  particulars,  illustrating  the 
several  modifications  effected  in  the  civil  and  religious 
institutions  of  the  Jews  by  their  subjection  to  Rome. 
And  thus  we  have  a  great  many  points  of  comparison 
between  the  gospel  history  and  the  other  histories  of 
the  same  times.  The  former  contains  innumerable 
references  to  the  peculiarities  then  existing  in  the 
Jewish  state — its  laws,  courts,  punishments,  as  well 
as  to  the  opinions,  prejudices,  and  customs  then  pre- 
vailing. This  was  dangerous  ground  for  the  inventor 
of  a  story.      The  continual  fluctuations  in  public 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  aOSPELS.  145 

affairs,  the  numerous  and  complex  changes  in  the 
supreme  officers  of  Judea  and  the  neighboring  prov- 
inces, as  well  as  in  the  boundaries  and  character  of 
their  governments,  within  the  period  embraced  in  the 
gospel  history,  must  have  added  greatly  to  the  diffi- 
culty of  an  inventor  of  a  narrative  located  in  such 
circumstances,  and  filled  with  allusions  to  them.  We 
have  a  Jewish  historian  of  the  same  age,  with  which 
to  confront  the  gospel  history.  Josephus  has  furnished 
us  with  a  full  and  minute  account  of  those  internal 
affairs  of  the  Jews,  both  civil  and  religious,  to  which 
allusions  are  made  in  the  gospel  history.  It  would 
be  evidently  very  far  beyond  the  limits  of  a  lecture 
to  attempt  a  proof  that  all  the  minutest  allusiops  in 
our  sacred  history  are  not  only  uncontradicted,  but 
wherever  the  same  things  are  spoken  of,  are  posi- 
tively confirmed  by  the  secular  authority  to  wliich 
we  have  referred  ;  but  we  assert  it  as  a  fact  well 
known  to  every  student  of  the  gospel  history,  and  of 
which  any  who  have  the  disposition  to  examine  the 
question  may  easily  be  satisfied.  NoWy  it  seems  to 
me  it  would  have  been  next  to  impossible  for  the 
inventor  of  a  story  exciting  such  general  and  intense 
interest,  branching  out  into  such  circumstantial  de- 
tails, and  connected  at  so  many  points  with  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  times,  to  tread  upon  ground  so  covered 
with  snares  without  being  caught.* 

*  For  this  description  of  evidence  the  reader  will  find  much 
very  instructive  and  useful  matter  in  a  recent  work  entitled, 
"Undesigned  Coincidences  in  the  Writings  both  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  an  Argument  for  their  Veracity,"  by  the 
Rev.  J.  J.  Blunt,  B.  D.,  Prof,  of  Divinity,  Cambridge,  Eng. 


146  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

4.  Let  us  next  consider  the  concurring  testimony/ 
of  other  witnesses.  We  have  as  yet  directed  your 
attention  to  the  gospel  narrative  as  furnished  by  a 
single  contemporaneous  historian  and  witness.  But 
suppose  you  should  unexpectedly  discover  in  the  ruins 
of  Herculaneum  three  distinct  writings  heretofore 
entirely  unknown,  but  containing  the  most  satisfac- 
tory evidence  of  authenticity,  and  evidently  written 
in  \hQ  first  century  of  Christianity,  by  three  several 
and  independent  authors,  each  possessed  of  the  best 
opportunities  of  knowledge ;  and  suppose  that  in 
every  one  of  them  there  should  be  found  a  history  of 
Christ  and  his  gospel ;  what  an  uncommon  oppor- 
tunity would  it  seem  of  trying  the  accuracy  of  this 
book  of  St.  John.  Even  if  these  three  newly  dis- 
covered authors  were  bad  men,  yet,  if  their  state- 
ments should  agree  with  his,  it  would  determine  the 
accuracy  of  his  history.  But  if  it  should  appear  that 
thoy  were  all  good  men,  how  much  more  complete 
would  be  their  confirmation.  Suppose,  however,  it 
should  turn  out  that  these  three  writers  were  not  only 
good  men,  but,  like  St.  John,  disciples  of  Christ  and 
ministers  of  his  gospel,  what  effect  would  their  concur- 
rent testimony  then  have  upon  his  accuracy?  Would 
it  be  diminished  in  conclusiveness  by  the  discovery  of 
their  Christian  character  ?  I  believe  that  in  the  minds 
of  multitudes  it  would,  but  most  unjustly.  Precisely 
the  contrary  should  be  the  consequence.     If  four  of 

The  volume  is  reprinted  in  New  York,  in  connection  with  the 
celehrated  Horse  Paulinae,  by  Paley,  in  which  the  same  species 
of  argument  is  carried  on  with  reference  to  the  epistles  of  St. 
Paul. 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  147 

the  chief  officers  in  Napoleon's  staff  had  published 
memoirs  of  his  life,  I  venture  to  say  that  the  con- 
currence of  their  several  statements,  instead  of  hav- 
ing its  evidence  weakened  because  they  were  all 
attached  to  Napoleon  and  admitted  to  his  domestic 
circle,  would  be  greatly  strengthened  in  your  estima- 
tion by  that  very  circumstance,  inasmuch  as  it  would 
insure  the  accuracy  of  their  knowledge  without  im- 
peaching their  integrity.  But  some  seem  to  suppose 
that  the  laws  regulating  the  force  of  testimony  are 
all  changed,  as  soon  as  the  matter  of  fact  in  question 
is  removed  from  the  department  of  profane  to  that  of 
sacred  history. 

How  much  has  been  made  of  the  testimony  of  the 
Roman  historian  Tacitus  to  some  of  the  chief  facts 
of  the  gospel  history.  It  is  the  testimony  of  a  heathen, 
and  therefore  supposed  to  be  incomparably  valuable. 
Now,  suppose  Tacitus  the  heathen  had  not  only  been 
persuaded  of  the  facts  he  has  related,  but  had  been 
so  deeply  impressed  with  the  belief  of  them  as  to 
have  renounced  heathenism  and  embraced  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  and  then  published  the  history  we  now 
possess ;  who  does  not  know,  that  with  the  infidel, 
and  with  many  a  believer,  the  force  of  his  testimony 
would  have  been  greatly  diminished  ?  No  reason  for 
this  can  be  given,  except  that  we  have  a  vague  idea 
of  some  depreciating  effect  arising  from  the  fact  that 
a  Christian  in  the  cause  of  Christianity  must  be  an 
interested  witness.  To  be  sure,  he  is  interested  ;  but 
is  his  testimony  the  less  valuable  ? 

A  scientific   man   bearing  testimony  to  a   phe- 


148  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

nomenon  in  natural  history  is  an  interested  witness, 
because  he  is  devoted  to  science  ;  but  his  testimony  is 
not  the  less  valuable.  A  good  man  bearing  testimony 
to  the  character  of  another  good  man  is  an  interested 
witness,  because  he  is  the  friend  of  virtue  and  of  all 
good  men  ;  but  his  testimony  is  not  the  less  valuable. 
In  this  and  no  other  sense  were  the  original  disciples 
interested  witnesses.  They  were  interested  in  Chris- 
tianity only  so  far  as  they  believed  it  true.  Suppose 
them  to  have  known  it  to  be  untrue,  and  you  cannot 
imagine  the  least  jot  or  tittle  of  interest  they  could 
have  had  in  it.  In  such  a  case,  on  the  contrary,  the 
current  of  all  their  interests  and  prepossessions  would 
have  run  directly  and  powerfully  in  opposition  to 
Christianity.  This  then  being  the  only  aspect  in 
which  they  can  be  regarded  as  interested,  the  force 
of  their  testimony,  so  far  from  being  in  the  least  im- 
paired, is  greatly  enhanced  by  the  consideration.  Tho 
bare  fact  that  any  primitive  writer  bearing  witness 
to  events  related  by  St.  John,  was  not  a  heathen  or  a 
Jew,  but  a  Christian,  is  the  very  thing  that  should 
be  regarded  as  completing  his  testimony.  Is  the  evi- 
dence of  Tacitus,  who  relates  such  events,  but  re- 
mained a  heathen,  any  thing  like  so  strong,  as  if  we 
could  say.  It  is  the  evidence  of  Tacitus,  who  was  a 
heathen,  but  believed  those  events  so  firmly  that  he 
became  a  Christian  ?  If  a  man  speak  well  to  me  of 
the  virtues  of  a  certain  medicine,  but  does  not  use  it 
himself,  is  his  opinion  half  so  weighty  as  if  he  were 
to  receive  it  into  his  own  vitals,  and  administer  it  in 
his  family  ?     Would  it  be  reasonable,  in  this  case,  to 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  149 

refuse  his  testimony  because  you  might  denominate 
him  an  interested  witness  ? 

I  have  thus  enlarged  upon  this  head,  because  I 
am  going  to  present  you  with  the  concurrent  testi- 
mony of  seven  ancient  writers,  in  confirmation  of  the 
accuracy  of  the  gospel  history  as  given  by  St.  Johp. 
They  are  writers  whose  testimony  has  this  particular 
value,  whereas  once  they  were  Jews  and  enemies 
to  the  gospel,  they  were  afterwards  converted  to  its 
belief  and  service,  became  Christians,  and  as  Chris- 
tians  wrote,  and  gave  every  practical  evidence  that 
what  they  wrote  they  believed.  Of  these,  three 
composed  regular  histories  of  the  life  and  labors  of 
Christ,  similar  in  object  to  that  of  John.  One  of 
them,  besides  a  memoir  of  Christ,  has  carried  on 
the  subsequent  history  of  Christianity,  under  the 
name  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Four  others  com- 
posed various  letters  to  different  individuals,  or  bodies 
of  Christians,  in  which  they  allude  continually  to 
events  related  in  the  narratives  of  the  former.  Now 
all  these  several  writings  are  perfectly  independent, 
each  of  the  rest.  We  have  them  bound  up  in  one 
volume,  and  are  apt  to  overlook  the  fact  that  they 
are  as  independent  productions  as  if  they  had  never 
been  in  contact  with  one  another.  Written  by  various 
authors  in  widely  remote  countries,  in  all  parts  of  the 
first  century  from  its  forty-first  to  its  ninety-seventh 
year,  in  as  many  different  styles  and  methods  as  they 
had  writers,  these  productions  cannot,  with  the  least 
reason,  be  suspected  of  having  been  composed  in 
concert.     Of  the  competency  of  the  knowledge  of 


160"  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

each  writer,  we  can  have  no  more  douht  than  in  the 
case  of  St.  John.  In  each  of  their  histories  we  see 
the  same  circumstantiality^  the  same  striking  inter- 
nal characteristics  of  honesty,  as  we  have  already- 
noticed  in  that  of  the  other  evangelist.  Now,  let  us 
divest  ourselves  of  the  delusion  so  apt  to  arise  out  of 
the  thought  that  they  are  Christian  witnesses,  and 
as  if  this  were  a  question  as  to  the  truth  of  a  history 
of  Pythagoras  by  one  of  his  disciples,  and  these  other 
writers  were  also  contemporaneous  disciples  of  Py- 
thagoras, let  us  bring  them  face  to  face  and  see  how 
they  agree.  Here,  then,  we  have  four  independent 
•  histories  of  the  life  of  Christ,  all  of  them  by  his  con- 
temporaries, besides  the  other  documents  we  have 
mentioned.  Now,  "it  is  an  extraordinary  and  sin- 
gular fact,  that  no  history  since  the  commencement 
of  the  world  has  been  written  by  so  great  a  number 
of  the^  companions  and  friends  of  an  illustrious  person 
as  that  of  our  Saviour.  One  contemporary  history  is 
a  rarity;  two  is  a  coincidence  scarcely  known;  four 
is,  so  far  as  appears,  unparalleled."*  We  have  there- 
fore an  unequalled  opportunity  of  coming  at  the 
truth.  We  compare  our  several  histories.  If  we 
find  them  contradictory,  our  confidence  declines.  If 
they  bear  a  systematic,  particular,  and  yet  com- 
prehensive resemblance,  we  must  suspect  collusion. 
But  we  perceive  neither  the  contradiction  nor  the 
resemblance.  We  see  great  variety.  What  one  re- 
lates, another  sometimes  leaves  out.  They  differ  in 
arrangement,  in  minuteness,  and  sometimes  as  to  fact, 
*  Wilson's  Lectures. 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  aOSPELS.  151 

in  such  manner  that  the  reader  might  be  alarmed  at 
first  view,  lest  there  should  be  found  a  contradiction ; 
while  such  is  the  actual  agreement,  that  all  difficul- 
ties vanish  before  a  strict  investigation,  and,  down 
to  the  utmost  minuteness  of  statement,  their  mutual 
support  is  undiminished  by  a  single  opposing  repre- 
sentation. The  attempts  of  infidels  to  make  out  the 
appearance  of  a  contradiction,  show  to  what  shifts 
they  have  been  driven,  and  how  accurate  is  the  con- 
currence. Now  this  unfailing  agreement  of  four 
several,  independent,  and  contemporaneous  historians, 
each  so  circumstantial,  each  so  full  of  allusions  to 
the  events  and  institutions  and  customs  of  the  times^ 
and  none  contradicted  by  any  evidence  whatever,  is 
as  convincing  an  evidence  of  the  honest  accuracy  of 
all,  as  any  mind  should  require.  Were  the  gospel 
history  untrue,  such  evidence  would  have  been  mor- 
ally impossible.  It  is  peculiar  to  that  history.  No 
other  can  plead  it  to  any  similar  extent.  And  here 
we  feel  that  we  might  safely  leave  the  question  of 
credibility.  But  there  are  two  or  three  points  remain- 
ing, which  must  not  be  left  unnoticed. 

Should  I  occupy  enough  of  your  time  to  take  any 
thing  like  a  full  view  of  the  whole  of  this  argument, 
I  should  here  introduce  the  uncontradicted  acknow- 
ledgment of  Jewish  and  heathen  enemies  of  the  gospel 
to  the  purity  and  integrity  of  the  primitive  disciples 
of  Christ;  the  strong  evidence  of  their  having  pos- 
sessed these  virtues,  which  is  exhibited  in  the  pecul- 
iarly modest  and  humble  manner  of  the  evangelists 
in  speaking  of  themselves,  never  concealing  or  excus- 


152  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

ing  what  might  make  exceedingly  against  them,  but 
always  mentioning  what  might  seem  humiliating  or 
honorable  to  themselves  in  the  same  plain,  simple 
way  as  they  relate  any  other  matter  of  fact.  We 
should  also  introduce  the  variety  of  incidental  con- 
firmations obtained  from  profane  writers,  and  from 
coins,  of  various  particulars  contained  in  the  gospel 
history.  We  should  cite  especially  the  testimony 
of  Tacitus  to  the  time  and  the  fact  of  the  Saviour's 
crucifixion ;  as  well  as  the  records  called  the  Acts 
of  Pilate,  bearing  witness  to  the  same  event,  and 
appealed  to  by  early  Christian  writers  as  notoriously 
laid  up  among  the  papers  of  the  Roman  senate.  But 
since  we  have  not  room  for  every  thing,  we  must 
dispense  with  these  particulars.* 

Let  it  be  remembered,  that  we  are  still  employed 
upon  the  honesty  of  the  writers  of  the  gospel  history. 
Suppose  then,  for  a  moment,  that  they  were  not 
honest  in  their  statements — that  they  knew  they 
were  endeavoring  to  pass  off  a  downright  imposition 
upon  the  world.  We  will  not  speak  of  their  intellect 
in  such  a  case,  but  of  their  motive.  Now,  it  would 
be  difiicult  to  suppose  that  any  man  could  devote  him- 
self to  the  diligent  promotion  of  such  an  imposture 
without  some  very  particular  motive;  much  more, 
that  without  such  motive  the  eight  various  writers 
concerned  in  the  New  Testament  should  have  united 
in  the  plan.  What  motive  could  they  have  had?  If 
impostors,  they  were  bad  men ;  their  motive,  there- 
fore, must  have  been  bad.  It  must  have  been  to  ad- 
*  See  Home's  Introduction,  vol.  1. 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  aOSPELS.  153 

vance  themselves  either  in  wealth,  honor,  or  power. 
Take  either,  or  all  of  these  objects,  and  here,  then,  is 
the  case  you  have.  Four  historians,  with  four  other 
writers  of  the  New  Testament — all  but  one  of  them 
poor,  unlearned  men  —  undertake  to  persuade  the 
world  that  certain  great  events  took  place  before  the 
eyes  of  thousands  in  Judea  and  Galilee,  which  none 
in  those  regions  ever  saw  or  heard  of,  and  which  they 
know  perfectly  well  did  never  occur.  They  see  be-, 
forehand  that  the  attempt  to  make  Jews  and  heathens 
believe  these  things  will  occasion  to  themselves  all 
manner  of  disgrace  and  persecution.  Nevertheless, 
so  fond  are  they  of  their  contrivance,  that  though  it 
is  bitterly  opposed  by  all  the  habits,  prejudices,  dis- 
positions, and  philosophy — all  the  powers  and  insti- 
tutions of  all  people,  they  submit  cheerfully  to  mis- 
ery and  contempt;  they  take  joyfully  the  spoiling 
of  their  goods ;  they  willingly  endure  to  be  counted 
fools  and  the  offscouring  of  all  things;  yea,  they 
march  thankfully  to  death  out  of  a  mere  desire  to 
propagate  a  story  which  they  all  know  is  a  downright 
fabrication  !  At  every  step  of  their  progress  they  see 
and  feel,  that  instead  of  any  worldly  advantage,  they 
are  daily  loading  themselves  with  ruin.  At  any  mo- 
ment they  can  turn  about  and  renounce  their  effort, 
and  retrieve  their  losses ;  and  yet,  with  perfect  una- 
nimity, these  eight,  with  thousands  of  others  equally 
aware  of  the  deception,  persist  most  resolutely  in 
their  career  of  ignominy  and  suffering.  Not  the 
slightest  confession,  even  under  torture  and  the  strong 
allurements  of  reward,  escapes  the  lips  of  any.     Not 


154  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  least  hesitation  is  shown,  when  to  each  is  offered 
the  choice  of  recantation  or  death.  He  that  can  be- 
lieve such  a  case  of  fraud  and  folly  as  this,  can  be- 
lieve any  thing.  He  believes  a  miracle  infinitely 
more  difficult  of  credit  than  any  in  the  gospel  history. 
I  charge  him  with  the  most  superstitious  and  besotted 
credulity.  In  getting  to  such  a  belief,  he  has  to  tram- 
ple over  all  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  reasoning. 
Then  on  what  an  unassailable  rock  does  the  honesty 
of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  stand,  if  it  can 
be  attacked  only  at  such  sacrifices.  How  evident  it 
is,  not  only  that  they  could  have  had  no  motive  to 
deceive,  but  that  in  all  their  self-devotion  and  sacri- 
fices they  gave  the  strongest  possible  evidence  of 
having  published  what  they  solemnly  believed  was 
true.* 

Now,  if  I  have  produced  satisfactory  proof  from 
all  the  unquestionable  marks  of  honesty  in  the  gospel 
history — from  the  concurrence  of  profane  historians 
with  many  of  its  facts — from  their  being  contradicted 
by  none — from  the  unprecedented  harmony  of  eight 
independent  writers  in  their  minutest  events  and  allu- 
sions— from  the  impossibility  of  supposing  any  mo- 
tive to  deception,  and  from  the  sacrifices  the  apostles 
endured  in  the  promotion  of  Christianity :  if  from 
these  sources  I  have  satisfactorily  shown  that  the 

*  "We  cannot  make  use,"  says  Hume,  "of  a  more  con- 
vincing argument,"  in  proof  of  honesty,  "  than  to  prove  that 
the  actions  ascribed  to  any  persons  are  contrary  to  the  course 
of  nature,  and  that  no  human  motives,  in  such  circumstances, 
could  ever  induce  them  to  such  a  conduct."  Philosophical 
Essays. 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  OOSPELS.  155 

writers  of  the  gospel  liistory  could  not  have  intended 
to  record  any  thing  but  truth,  then,  having  previ- 
ously ascertained  that  they  must  have  known  whether 
what  they  wrote  was  true  or  false,  we  have  those  two 
requisites  which  insure  the  credibility  of  any  history, 
knowledge  and  honesty.  This  shuts  up  the  question. 
But  it  is  not  the  whole  strength  of  the  argument.  A 
question  may  be  shut  up  and  locked,  but  then  it 
may  have  bolts  and  bars  besides.  The  truth  of  the 
gospel  history  is  not  only  sealed,  but  sealed  seven- 
fold. 

5.  It  has  all  the  testimony  that  could  possibly 
have  been  expected^  in  the  nature  of  things^  from 
the  enemies  of  Christianity,  It  would  have  been 
unreasonable  to  expect  that  a  heathen  or  Jew  would 
come  forward  with  a  detailed  statement  to  acknow- 
ledge the  events  narrated  by  the  evangelists.  We 
have  not  this,  but  we  have  much  better:  we  have 
the  confession  of  the  whole  nation  of  Jews  and  of  all 
the  Grreeks  to  the  same  point.  None  ever  ventured  in 
any  publication  to  deny  the  statements  of  the  evan- 
gelists. Unquestionably  they  would  have  done  it 
everywhere,  had  they  been  able.  When  Luke  pub- 
lished in  Jerusalem  that  a  man  lame  from  his  birth 
was  healed  by  Peter  and  John,  while  sitting  as  a 
beggar  at  the  gate  of  the  temple,  and  that  a  great 
multitude  came  together  on  account  of  the  wonderful 
deed,  had  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem  been  able  to  deny 
it,  would  their  persecuting  enmity  have  permitted 
them  to  be  silent  ?  Be  it  remembered  that  the  gos- 
pel history  was  published  in  the  places  where  its 


166  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

events  are  said  to  have  occurred,  in  the ,  lifetime  of 
many  enemies  who  are  said  to  have  seen  them.  Now 
it  is  certain  that  no  adversaries,  either  in  Judea,  or 
Greece,  or  Rome,  rested  their  opposition  to  the  gospel, 
in  any  degree,  on  the  denial  of  these  events.  "What 
is  the  consequence  ?  They  could  not  deny  them. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  this  silence  ?  Being  inter- 
preted, it  is  nothing  less  than  a  universal  testimony 
from  all  Jews  and  heathens  who  were  capable  of  know- 
ing any  thing  of  the  matter,  that  these  things  were 
so.  But  they  did  not  stop  here.  Tacitus  the  Roman 
historian  positively  asserts  some  of  the  chief  events  of 
the  gosp.el.*  Celsus,  a  bitter  antagonist  of  Christian- 
ity, in  the  second  century  ;t  Porphyry,  a  learned  as 
well  as  earnest  opposer,  in  the  third  ;^  and  Julian, 
the  apostate  emperor,  in  the  next  century,^  all  ac- 
knowledge not  only  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament books,  but,  so  far  as  they  refer  to  them,  the 
historical  correctness  of  their  narratives,  even  as  to 
the  most  extraordinary  particulars,  not  excluding  the 
miracles  of  Christ. 

But  we  have  stronger  witness  still. 

About  thirty-two  years  after  the  crucifixion,  took 
place  the  first  Roman  persecution  under  Nero.  The 
number  of  Christians  discovered  in  the  one  city  of 
Rome,  and  condemned,  is  called  by  Tacitus  ''a  vast 
multitude. ^^"  Of  course  they  must  have  been  exceed- 
ingly numerous  in  all  other  places  taken  together. 

*  Lardner,  vol.  3,  p.  611.         t  Ibid.  4,  121-130,  133,  134. 
t  Ibid.  4,  234-238.  5  Ibid.  4,  341,  342. 

»  Tac.  Annal.,  lib.  15,  ch.  44;  Lardner  3,  610-614. 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  OOSPELS.  157 

These  but  a  few  years  before  were  all  either  Jews  or 
heathens.  Many  resided  in  Jerusalem,  Capernaum, 
Antioch,  Philippi,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  etc.  By  the 
time  of  this  persecution,  all  the  gospels  but  one,  as 
well  as  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  had  been  published. 
The  events  recorded  in  these  books  are  said  to  have 
taken  place  before  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  the  cities 
just  mentioned.  It  was  an  easy  thing  for  those  peo- 
ple to  ascertain  whether  they  or  their  neighbors,  or 
parents,  had  seen  them.  What  did  they  do  ?  They 
came  forward  in  great  multitudes;  they  threw  off 
Judaism;  threw  off  paganism  ;  espoused  the  gospel, 
and  sooner  than  renounce  it,  suffered  unto  death. 
This  was  but  thirty-three  years  after  the  events  record- 
ed of  Christ ;  it  was  in  the  lifetime  of  Paul.  I  say, 
therefore,  that  every  Christian  of  those  days  was  a 
witness,  the  strongest  witness — far  more  impressive 
in  his  attestation  than  any  enemy  could  have  been 
to  the  shining,  powerful  truth  of  the  gospel  history. 
"We  are  compassed  about,  therefore,  with  a  great 
"cloud  of  witnesses" — witnesses  who  did  not  just 
acknowledge  these  things  and  still  remain  what  they 
were  before^  but  witnesses  adding  to  their  acknowledg- 
ment the  testimony  of  their  conversion,  the  evidence 
of  their  lives  which  were  wholly  devoted  to  these 
things,  the  seals  of  ten  thousand  martyrdoms  en- 
dured solely  on  account  of  their  perfect  assurance  of 
these  things. 

Now,  consider  a  moment  the  utter  impossibility 
that  the  gospel  history  should  have  gained  such  cur- 
rency for  a  single  year,  had  it  not  been  notoriously 


158  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

true.  In  about  eight  years  after  the  crucifixion, 
Matthew  publishes  his  gospel  among  the  Jews.  He 
tells  the  people  of  Jerusalem,  that  only  eight  years 
before  that  time,  while  a  great  multitude  of  them 
were  witnessing  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord  Jesus, 
there  was  darkness  over  the  whole  land  from  twelve 
to  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  ^'the  veil  of  the 
temple  was  rent  in  twain,  and  the  earth  did  quake, 
and  the  rocks  rent."  Suppose  all  this  to  have  been  a 
fabrication,  would  Jerusalem  have  held  her  peace? 
Could  a  book  of  such  barefaced  untruth  have  lived  an 
hour? 

The  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  was  pub- 
lished about  thirty  years  after  the  ascension  of  Christ, 
and  was  immediately  circulated  among  the  churches, 
and  open  to  the  perusal  of  the  enemies  of  Christian- 
ity. It  is  related  in  the  second  chapter  of  that  work, 
that  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  soon  after  the  death  of 
Christ,  when  a  great  multitude  collected  from  all 
parts  of  the  earth  were  assembled  at  Jerusalem,  a 
deep  impression  of  astonishment  was  produced  on  the 
public  mind  by  a  rumor  of  certain  miraculous  events 
in  the  company  of  the  apostles,  so  that  **the  multitude 
came  together  and  were  confounded,  because  that 
every  man  heard  them  speak  in  his  own  language." 
Parthians  and  Medes  and  Elamites  and  Cretes  and 
Arabians,  dwellers  in  all  countries,  men  of  every 
speech,  were  amazed  at  hearing  those  Galileans,  who 
were  well  known  to  have  learned  no  other  tongue  than 
that  of  Palestine,  speaking  in  all  varieties  of  foreign 
languages  the  wonderful  works  of  God.     Such  is  the 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  OOSPELS.  159 

relation  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  How  could  a 
writer  in  his  senses  attempt  to  pass  it  upon  his  read- 
ers, had  it  not  been  notorious  that  such  things  had 
actually  occurred?  The  lapse  of  thirty  years  could 
not  have  so  obliterated  every  recollection  of  that  feast, 
or  so  swept  the  world  of  surviving  witnesses,  as  to 
prevent  the  cerfainty  that  wherever  this  book  should 
circulate,  it  would  meet  with  persons  capable  of  re- 
membering or  of  ascertaining  whether  these  things 
were  so.  Had  not  the  fact  of  the  apostles  having 
spoken  in  the  presence  of  thousands  in  various  tongues 
been  undeniable,  witnesses  innumerable  would  have 
arisen  against  the  book  that  related  it.  Had  no  such 
event  occurred,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  could  have 
gone  into  no  part  of  the  world  without  finding  those 
who  would  stand  up  and  declare  that  they  were  at 
the  feast  referred  to,  and  saw  nothing  and  heard  noth- 
ing of  the  marvellous  things  declared  by  its  author. 
I  say,  therefore,  the  fact  that  the  gospel  history  was 
received,  loved,  and  read  everywhere  among  Chris- 
tians— that  it  has  outlived  all  the  withering  of  time, 
and  all  the  weapons  of  enemies — that  Jews  could  not 
gainsay  it,  nor  heathens  resist  it — that  eighteen  cen- 
turies of  scrutiny  and  trial  have  only  added  new  as- 
surance to  its  truth,  is  one  which  reduces  the  sup- 
position of  imposture  to  a  perfect  and  ridiculous  ab- 
surdity. Therefore  was  it  not  in  the  power  of  such 
modern  infidels  as  Hobbes  and  Chub  and  Bolingbroke 
to  deny  the  point  in  question.  The  last,  not  to  quote 
from  the  others,  speaking  of  John  and  Matthew,  ac- 
knowledges  that   "they   recorded   the   doctrines   of 


160  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Christ  in  the  very  words  in  which  he  taught  them; 
and  they  were  careful  to  mention  the  several  oc- 
casions on  which  he  delivered  them  to  his  disciples 
or  others.  If  therefore  Plato  and  Xenophon  tell  us, 
with  a  good  deal  of  certainty,  what  Socrates  taught, 
these  two  evangelists  seem  to  tell  us,  with  much 
more,  what  the  Saviour  taught  and  commanded  them 
to  teach." 

Here,  I  think,  we  may  safely  leave  the  question 
of  credibility.  So  conclusive  and  certain  have  seemed 
to  my  mind  the  several  consecutive  arguments  to 
which  you  have  listened,  that  instead  of  feeling  at 
each  step  as  if  any  candid  hearer  would  wait  for 
additional  proof,  I  have  felt  not  unfrequently  as  if  I 
were  tiring  your  attention  with  an  unnecessary  accu- 
mulation. Why  this  heaping  of  argument  upon  argu- 
ment, one  may  say,  when  from  the  very  outset  of  the 
question,  from  the  certain  authenticity  of  the  gospels, 
united  with  their  internal  evidence,  we  have  a  proof 
of  credibility  with  which  any  rational  mind  should  bo 
perfectly  satisfied?  AYe  acknowledge  the  reasonable- 
ness of  the  inquiry.  If  the  history  under  considera- 
tion related  to  the  life  of  Alexander  the  Great  and  his 
generals,  instead  of  that  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus 
and  his  apostles,  who  would  think  it  necessary  to  go 
into  all  this  detail  of  evidence  to  establish  its  truth? 
That  it  contained  no  internal  marks  of  dishonesty — 
that  it  was  uncontradicted  by  contemporaneous  writ- 
ers and  by  other  histories  of  the  same  times — that  it 
had  been  received  ever  since  as  a  true  account,  would 
be  considered  an  ample  warrant  of  its  historical  cor- 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  OOSPELS.  161 

rectness.  Few,  if  any  profane  histories,  can  produce 
more  positive  proof  of  credibility  than  this.  But  try 
tliem  by  the  scale  on  which  the  gospel  history  is 
measured;  require  them  to  present  one  half  of  the 
weight  of  evidence  which  infidels  demand  and  Chris- 
trans  bring,  in  support  of  the  sacred  narrative,  and 
you  must  exclude  them  from  all  claim  to  the  confi- 
dence of  their  readers.  We  might  speak  of  the  un- 
fairness of  requiring  so  much  more  in  proof  of  a  his- 
tory, merely  because  its  character  is  sacred,  and  its 
facts  are  connected  with  religion.  Whether  the  con- 
sequences deducible  from  an  alleged  fact  be  in  the 
region  of  science,  of  morals,  or  of  religion,  is  a  ques- 
tion which  has  no  connection  with  that  of  the  amount 
of  evidence  necessary  to  its  proof.  Whether  an 
evangelist  be  worthy  of  dependence  when  he  relates 
the  works  of  Jesus,  is  a  question  of  testimony  to  be 
determined  by  the  same  degree  of  proof  that  should 
satisfy  us  as  to  the  accuracy  and  honesty  of  any  other 
writer,  on  any  other  subject  of  history.  But  we  have 
no  disposition  to  complain  that  so  much  has  been  de- 
manded in  evidence  of  the  gospel  narrative.  It  has 
only  served  to  quicken  the  investigations  of  the  friends 
of  truth,  and  to  exhibit  with  a  more  impressive  as- 
surance those  great  events  on  which  all  that  is  pre- 
cious in  a  Christian's  faith  is  founded.  It  has  showed 
not  only  how  amply,  but  how  wonderfully  the  G-od  of 
truth  and  grace  has  made  the  anchor  of  our  hope  to 
be  sure  and  steadfast.  It  teaches  how,  in  the  hands 
of  divine  Wisdom,  the  wrath  of  man  is  made  subsid- 
iary to  the  praise  of  God — how  the  fiery  darts  of  the 


162  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

wicked  are  not  only  broken  against  the  shield  of  faith, 
but  made  the  means  of  increasing  the  light  by  which 
the  Christian  is  guided,  and  often  of  carrying  back 
confusion  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  It  should 
lead  the  believer  to  adore  with  admiring  gratitude 
the  goodness  of  Him  who,  for  the  sake  of  those  that 
love  him,  causes  all  the  schemes  and  assaults  of 
•unbelievers  to  work  together  for  good,  making  it 
more  and  more  manifest,  by  the  defeat  of  every  new 
attack,  that  this  is  **the  true  light" — '*the  shining 
light,  which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  per- 
fect day." 

Had  we  time,  or  were  it  needful  to  enter  upon  a 
particular  view  of  the  authenticity  and  credibility  of 
the  Old  Testament  volume,  this  would  be  the  place 
for  the  argument;  but  we  have  room  only  to  advert 
to  it.  The  connection  between  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  Scriptures  and  that  of  the  Jewish  is  so 
obvious  and  essential;  the  dispensation  of  Christ  so 
continually  assumes  the  divine  authority  of  that  of 
Moses,  and  is  so  evidently  built  on  its  foundations; 
the  writings  of  the  apostles  so  frequently  quote  and 
refer  to  the  law  and  the  prophets,  as  authentic,  cred- 
ible, and  inspired  Scriptures;  the  argument  for  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  is  so  parallel  in  its  mode 
and  means  to  that  for  the  books  of  the  New ;  and  the 
cavils  of  sceptics  in  relation  to  the  former  are  so  sim- 
ilar in  objection,  principle,  and  reasoning,  to  those 
with  which  they  assail  the  latter,  that  in  having  es- 
tablished the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  the  one, 
we  may  be  fairly  said. to  have  equalJy  established,  in 


CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  103 

outline,  the  character  of  the  other.  Certain  we  are, 
that  a  man  who  is  intelligently  convinced  of  the  au- 
thenticity and  credibility  of  the  New  Testament,  will 
not  halt  between  two  opinions  as  to  the  writings  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  but  will  read  them  as  as- 
suredly the  writings  of  those  whose  names  they  bear, 
and  as  deserving,  in  relation  to  all  matters  of  fact,  the 
character  of  credible  Scriptures. 


)64  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 


LECTURE    V. 


MIRACLES. 


Our  last  lecture  was  on  the  credibility  of  the 
gospel  history.  In  a  previous  one,  we  ascertained 
the  authenticity  of  the  books  in  which  it  is  contained. 
If  the  evidence  adduced  in  proof  of  both  these  funda- 
mental articles  appeared  as  satisfactory  to  the  hear- 
ers as  to  the  speaker,  we  are  then  prepared  to  open 
the  New  Testament  with  the  assurance  that  the  books 
it  contains  were  written  by  those  original  disciples 
whose  names  they  bear,  and,  that  we  may  confidently 
depend  on  the  historical  correctness  of  their  state- 
ments. The  seals  therefore  of  the  volume  are  now 
unloosed.  Immediately  on  inspecting  the  contents,  it 
appears  that  the  grand  and  continual  reference  is  to 
Jesus  Christ,  as  a  Teacher  and  Saviour  sent  from 
God,  to  communicate  personally  and  by  his  apostles 
a  revelation  of  truth  and  duty  to  man.  This  revela- 
tion the  New  Testament  professes  to  contain.  Now, 
the  grand  question  is.  What  are  the  EvmENCES  that 

THE   RELIGION   CONTAINED  IN  THE  NeW  TeSTAMENT  IS  A 
DIVINE  REVELATION? 

When  an  ambassador  from  a  foreign  power  pre- 
sents himself  at  our  seat  of  government,  charged  with 
certain  communications  from  his  sovereign,  he  first 
exhibits  his  credentials  of  appointment.    These  being 


MIRACLES.  165 

satisfactory,  whatever  he  may  communicate  in  his 
official  character  is  received  with  as  much  reUance  as 
if  it  were  heard  from  the  lips  of  his  sovereign  him- 
self. It  is  treated  as  a  revelation  of  the  mind  or  will 
of  that  sovereign.  In  the  New  Testament  we  read 
that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  appeared  among  men  as 
an  ambassador  from  God,  charged  with  certain  im- 
portant communications  to  njankind.  Before  we  can 
be  justified  in  receiving  those  communications  as  a 
divine  revelation,  we  must  know  the  credentials  of 
the  ambassador — we  must  have  sufficient  evidence 
that  he  was  sent  of  God.  Furnish  this,  and  we  are 
bound  to  receive  his  communications  as  confidently 
as  if  they  should  be  heard  directly  from  the  throne  of 
the  Most  High.  Thus  the  Jews  said  to  him,  "What 
sign  showest  thou  then,  that  we  may  see  and  believe 
thee  ?  What  dost  thou  work  ?"  The  Saviour,  admit- 
ting the  propriety  of  the  demand,  appealed  to  his 
works  as  his  credentials.  "  The  works  that  I  do,  they 
bear  witness  of  me."*  On  another  occasion  he  called 
up  his  miracles.  "The  blind  receive  their  sight,  the 
lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  and 
the  dead  are  raised  up."^  As  if  he  had  said,  "Such 
works  can  only  be  done  by  the  direct  and  supernatu- 
ral interposition  of  the  power  of  God.  They  are  done 
at  my  word  and  will.  They  are  therefore  a  perfect 
attestation  that  God  is  with  me,  and  that  my  claim 
to  your  confidence  as  his  ambassador  is  true."  Nico- 
demus  understood  this,  and  expressed  no  other  than 
the  plain  dictate  of  common-sense,  when  he  said  to 
*  John  6  :  30  ;  10  :  25.  t  Matt.  11:5. 


166  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Jesus,  "We  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from 
God ;  for  no  man  can  do  these  miracles  that  thou  doest, 
except  God  he  with  him."*  The  credentials  of  the 
apostles,  as  subordinate  agents  of  divine  revelation, 
are  expressed  in  like  manner.  ''God  also  bearing 
them  witness,  both  with  signs  and  wonders,  and  with 
divers  miracles,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost."^  None 
can  question  the  absolute  certainty  of  such  creden- 
tials. This  has  been  acknowledged  even  by  the  most 
famous  advocates  of  infidelity.  Woolston  says,  ''I 
believe  it  will  be  granted  on  all  hands,  that  the  re- 
storing a  person  indisputably  dead  to  life  is  a  stupen- 
dous miracle,  and  that  two  or  three  such  miracles, 
well  attested  and  credibly  reported,  are  enough  to 
conciliate  the  belief  that  the  author  of  them  was  a 
divine  agent,  and  invested  with  the  power  of  God."* 
Make  good  therefore  the  evidence,  that  the  Saviour 
and  his  apostles  'wrought  miracles  in  attestation  of 
their  divine  mission,  and  the  Christian  religion,  as  con- 
tained in  the  New  Testament  and  taught  by  them, 
must  be  a  divine  revelation. 

Our  way,  therefore,  is  plain.  We  must  inquire 
into  the  evidence  on  which  it  can  be  established,  that 
THE  Saviour  and  his  apostles  did  work  miracles.  To 
this  inquiry  we  should  proceed  immediately,  were  it 
not  for  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  meet  us  in 
the  way.  The  adversaries  of  the  gospel  have  had 
wit  enough  to  see  that  either  the  evidence  of  miracles 
must  be  overthrown,    or  they    must  surrender  the 

•  John  3:2.  t  Heb.  2  :  4. 

t  Scheme  of  Literal  Prophecy,  pp.  321,  322. 


MIRACLES.  167 

contest.  Unable  to  meet  the  direct  and  abound  ins: 
testimony  by  which  the  wonderful  works  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles  are  proved,  they  have  taken  position 
and  entrenched  themselves  upon  the  advanced  and  des- 
perate ground  of  the  insufficiency  of  any  testimony  to 
prove  a  miracle.  Thus  have  we  a  redoubt  in  our  way, 
commanding  the  whole  field  of  controversy,  which,' 
though  easily  carried  when  properly  assailed,  would 
be  of  great  damage  if  left  in  our  rear.  The  present 
lecture  will  be  occupied,  therefore,  with  the  discus- 
sion of  certain  preliminary  subjects,  anticipating  a 
direct  application  to  the  evidence  of  miracles  in  our 
next.  We  commence  with  the  following  proposition  : 
1.  There  is  nothing  unreasonable  or  improbable 
in  the  idea  of  a  miracle  being  wrought  in  proof  of 
a  divine  revelation,  I  know  not  but  that  all  per- 
sons of  ordinary  information  have  a  sufficiently  cor- 
rect idea  of  what  is  meant  by  a  miracle,  without  the 
aid  of  a  definition.  No  one  would  mistake  the  res- 
toration of  sight  to  the  bUnd  by  the  use  of  human 
skill,  however  wonderful  it  might  be  considered,  for 
a  miracle.  No  one  could  mistake  the  sudden  com- 
munication of  sight  to  one  born  blind,  at  the  mere 
word  of  another  without  any  intervening  cause,  for 
any  thing  else  than  a  miracle.  The  former  result, 
though  astonishing,  would  be  according  to  the  com- 
mon course  of  nature^  or  to  what  are  called  the  laws 
of  nature.  The  latter  would  be  beyond^  or  different 
from  those  laws.  One  would  be  a  natural,  the  other 
a  supernatural  event,  or  a  miracle.* 

•  See  Gregory's  Letters,  1,  p.  167. 


168  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Now  the  idea  of  a  revelation  from  God,  and  the 
idea  of  a  miracle  to  attest  the  divine  commission  of 
those  who  make  it,  are  essentially  connected.  If  one 
or  more  individuals  be  sent  to  communicate  the 
revelation,  they  must  prove  their  mission  by  some 
credentials.  What  can  their  credentials  be  but 
miracles  ?  The  necessity  of  these  will  be  evident 
from  a  little  consideration.  They  can  appeal  to  but 
three  sorts  of  proof:  the  internal  excellence  and 
fitness  of  their  communications,  their  own  integrity 
and  judgment,  and  the  miraculous  works  attendant 
on  their  ministry.  With  regard  to  the  two  former, 
it  is  manifest  that  in  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances, they  would  need  too  much  time  and  evidence 
and  discrimination  for  their  establishment ;  and  that 
they  would  always  remain  of  a  character  too  uncer- 
tain to  permit  their  being  used  with  any  effect  in 
proof  of  a  divine  revelation.  They  would  answer 
well  as  auxiliaries,  but  it  would  require  something 
of  a  much  more  positive  nature  to  sustain  the  chief 
burden  of  proof.  The  claim  to  be  received  as  a 
messenger  of  God,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  reve- 
lation to  the  world,  could  never  be  substantiated  on 
such  grounds.  Evidence  is  needed  which  all  minds 
may  appreciate.  It  must  be  something  that  has  only 
to  be  seen  to  be  understood  and  acknowledged. 
When  a  plenipotentiary  presents  himself  at  the  seat 
of  government,  intrusted  with  certain  communica- 
tions from  a  foreign  power  of  great  importance  on 
both  sides,  and  requiring  to  be  immediately  acted 
upon,  it  would  not  answer  for  him  to  plead  in  evi- 


MIRACLES.  169 

dence  of  his  delegated  authority,  that  his  personal 
integrity  is  unimpeached  and  his  communications 
are  such  as  might  be  expected  from  his  government. 
The  time  for  action  would  be  lost  while  such  proof 
was  being  proved.  Ho  must  exhibit  credentials 
which  carry  on  their  face  the  direct  evidence  of  his 
commission.  He  must  show  the  broad  seal  of  liis 
sovereign  stamped  upon  their  handwriting.  So  must 
an  ambassador  from  God.  What  then  can  he  show 
but  miracles  ?  What  else  can  set  to  his  communi- 
cations the  seal  of  God ?  "In  fact,  the  very  idea  of 
a  revelation  includes  that  of  miracles.  A  revelation 
cannot  be  made  but  by  a  miraculous  interposition  of 
Deity."* 

So  that  the  idea  of  miracles  can  be  unreasonable 
or  improbable  only  so  far  as  it  is  unreasonable  or 
improbable  that  God  should  commission  one  or  more 
persons  to  make  a  revelation  of  his  truth  and  wilL 
That  such  a  revelation  was  needed  in  the  world  at 
the  time  when  Christ  appeared,  can  be  denied  only 
by  asserting  that  the  additional  hght  now  possessed, 
in  consequence  of  the  gospel,  is  superfluous  and  use- 
less. This  denial  can  only  be  maintained  by  show- 
ing that  the  world,  sunk  in  idolatry,  vice,  and  dark- 
ness, as  it  was  universally  before  the  gospel  came, 
had  all  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  all  the  assurance 
of  his  will  and  of  the  retributions  of  a  future  state, 
that  were  important  to  its  happiness.  A  matter  of 
proof  which  1  suppose  no  one  here  imagines  to  be 
possible.  Then  if  it  cannot  'be  shown  that  a  revela- 
*  Gregory's  Letters. 


J70  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tion  was  not  needed,  it  cannot  be  proved  that  the 
idea  of  a  revelation  from  a  God  of  infinite  goodness 
and  mercy,  was  either  unreasonable  or  improbable. 
But  a  revelation  can  be  attested  only  by  miracles. 
They  are  inseparable.  Consequently,  in  the  idea  of 
miracles  being  wrought  in  proof  of  divine  revelation, 
it  cannot  be  proved  that  there  is  any  thing  either 
unreasonable  or  improbable. 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  show,  that  in  the 
circumstances  of  the  world  at  the  Christian  era,  a 
revelation  was  not  only  probable,  but  necessary  ;  and 
by  manifest  consequence  that  miracles,  as  its  neces- 
sary attestations,  were  also  not  only  probable,  but 
necessary. 

Having  thus  endeavored  to  show  that  there  is  no 
presumptive  evidence  against  a  miracle,  except  as  it 
lies  equally  against  a  revelation,  and  that  the  one  is 
probable  in  proportion  as  the  other  may  be  expected, 
let  us  proceed  to  our  second  proposition. 

2.  If  miracles  were  lorought  in  attestation  of 
the  mission  of  Christ  and  his  apostles^  they  can  be 
rendered  credible  to  us  by  no  other  evidence  than 
that  of  TESTIMONY.  There  are  various  descriptions 
of  evidence,  as  the  evidence  of  sense,  the  evidence 
of  mathematical  demonstration,  and  moral  evidence 
including  that  of  testimony.  Each  of  these  has  its 
own  department  of  subjects.  A  question  of  morals 
cannot  be  demonstrated  by  mathematics,  or  proved 
by  the  senses.  A  question  of  historical  fact  can  be 
settled  only  by  testimony.  It  might  as  well  be  put 
to  the  tests  of  chemistry,  as  to  have  applied  to  it 


MIRACLES.  17) 

cither  the  evidence  of  mathematical  demonstration 
or  of  the  senses. 

Not  only  is  there  a  separate  department  for  each 
of  these  species  of  evidence,  but  each  is  sufficient, 
in  its  appropriate  place,  for  the  complete  establish- 
ment of  truth.  By  this  I  mean,  that  when  the 
quantity  of  an  angle  is  proved  by  mathematical 
demonstration,  we  have  a  result  of  no  more  practical 
confidence  than  when  the  existence  of  this  house  is 
proved  by  the  senses,  or  that  of  the  city  of  London 
is  proved  by  testimony.  Proof  in  either  case  is  the 
foundation  of  entire  belief.  We  are  just  as  certain 
that  such  a  man  as  Napoleon  once  lived,  as  that  any 
proposition  in  geometry  is  true,  though  one  is  a  mat- 
ter of  testimony,  the  other  of  demonstration.  We 
are  quite  as  sure  that  arsenic  is  poisonous  as  that 
food  is  nutritious,  though  one  is,  to  most  of  us  at 
least,  a  matter  of  testimony  only,  while  the  other  is 
to  all  a  matter  of  sense.  We  are  perfectly  certain  of 
all  these,  things. 

It  is  likely  that  some  minds  are  led  into  erroneous 
notions  of  the  comparative  conclusiveness  of  testi- 
mony on  one  side,  and  that  of  mathematical  demon- 
stration and  of  the  senses  on  the  other,  on  account  of 
the  technical  name  by  which  the  former  is  distin- 
guished in  philosophical  discussions.*  It  is  called 
probable  evidence.  It  would  seem  to  some  as  if, 
because  probable^  it  must  be  less  satisfactory,  since 
in  common  speech  what  is  merely  probable  is  not 
certain.  But  in  philosophical  language,  the  word 
*  Stewart's  Phil.  2,  p.  179. 


tit  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

probable  is  used,  not  in  distinction  from  certain  evi- 
dence, but  simply  from  that  which  is  sensible  or 
demonstrative,  without  reference  to  the  measure  of 
certainty  attached  to  it.  Thus,  our  belief  that  the 
sun  will  rise  to-morrow,  or  that  we  are  all  to  die,  or 
that  London  was  once  visited  with  a  dreadful  plague, 
is  founded  on  what  is  called  probable  evidence, 
though  we  should  be  suspected  of  lunacy  did  we 
question  the  propriety  of  acting  upon  it  with  perfect 
assurance.  Such,  then,  being  the  sufficiency  of 
testimony  to  convey  a  perfect  assurance  of  any  thing 
in  its  appropriate  sphere,  however  distant  in  point  of 
time  or  place,  I  return  to  the  proposition  that  if 
miracles  were  wrought  by  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
they  can  be  rendered  credible  to  us  of  the  nineteenth 
century  by  no  other  evidence  than  that  of  testimony. 
Mathematical  evidence  is  evidently  inapplicable  to 
the  question.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact  belonging  to 
another  century,  and  therefore  intangible  by  sense. 
Nothing  remains  but  testimony.  This  kind  of  evi- 
dence is  perfectly  appropriate  to  the  subject  of  proof 
If,  therefore,  the  gospel  miracles  are  true,  they  must 
be  substantiated  by  testimony,  or  not  at  all.  We 
proceed  to  the  next  proposition. 

3.  Miracles  are  capable  of  being  proved  by  tes- 
timony. This  I  consider  to  be  as  true  and  obvious 
as  that  miracles  are  capable  of  being  proved  by  the 
evidence  of  the  senses.  That  a  certain  person  was 
dead  and  buried  yesterday,  and  that  he  is  alive  and 
walking  the  streets  to-day,  the  senses  are  perfectly 
competent  to  decide.     I  never  heard  of  this  being 


MIRACLES.  173 

questioned.  But  if  I  and  twenty  others  saw  these 
facts,  is  there  no  way  of  making  them  credible  to  my 
neighbor  who  did  not  see  them?  Will  it  be  pretend- 
ed, that  if  twenty  men  of  unquestionable  honesty  and 
intelligence  should  solemnly  and  by  every  means  of 
conviction  in  their  power  assure  me  that  they  saw 
the  man  dead,  buried,  and  in  corruption,  I  would  have 
no  sufficient  reason  to  believe  their  assertion  ?  Will 
it  be  pretended,  that  if  the  same  men  should  in  the 
same  way  assure  me  that  subsequently  they  saw  the 
same  man  alive  and  conversed  with  him,  I  should 
have  no  reason  to  believe  their  assertion?  I  think 
there  are  none  among  us  who  could  avoid  belief  in 
such  a  case.  It  would  evidently  be  a  case  of  miracle, 
believed  on  testimony ;  and  to  maintain  that  it  would 
be  believed  without  reason,  and  that  no  conceivable 
addition  of  honest  testimony  could  furnish  reason  for 
the  belief  of  those  two  simple  facts,  that  the  man  was 
dead  yesterday  and  is  alive  to-day,  would  seem  an 
absurdity  too  gross  to  be  touched  by  argument. 

Here  I  should  leave  the  matter,  confident  in  the 
common-sense  of  my  hearers,  were  it  not  that  the  very 
absurdity  in  view  has  been  so  mystified  with  the 
drugs  of  false  philosophy,  so  disguised  under  the 
dress  of  logical  forms  and  ceremonies,  and  so  followed 
in  its  circulation  with  the  influence  of  one  of  the  chief 
names  in  modern  scepticism,  as  to  perplex  many 
minds  unaccustomed  to  the  entanglements  of  soph- 
istry. The  principle  that  no  conceivable  amount  of 
testimony  can  prove  a  miracle,  with  David  Hume  for 
its  original  champion,  has  been  eagerly  adopted  by 


174  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  many  whose  convenience  makes  them  unbeliev- 
ers, but  whose  convenience  it  would  not  suit  to  at- 
tempt an  honest,  manly  answer  to  the  abounding  tes- 
timony by  which  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  are  proved, 
A  labor-saving  machine  was  wanted,  by  which  the 
whole  business  of  silencing  the  inconvenient  variety 
and  troublesome  multitude  of  Christian  evidences 
might  be  done  at  once,  as  well  by  the  ignorant  as  the 
learned.  Hume  invented  it.  Any  body  can  work  it. 
It  is  not  necessary  any  more  that  a  man  should  study 
the  Bible,  to  refute  its  claims.  He  may  never  have 
seen  it;  but  if  he  can  only  retain  in  his  memory  these 
few  talismanic  words,  '^ No  testimony  can  prove  a 
miracle^'^  it  is  enough.  At  the  rubbing  of  this  mar- 
vellous lamp,  the  fabric  of  Christianity  passes  away ; 
the  terrible  genii  of  the  gospel  mysteries  dissolve  in 
air.  Like  a  similar  assertion,  and  equally  philosophi- 
cal doctrine  of  the  same  writer,  that  there  is  no  ex- 
ternal world — that  this  house  is  nothing  but  an  idea, 
built  not  of  matter,  but  only  of  mind — this  happy 
invention  of  sceptical  ingenuity  digs  so  far  below  the 
foundations  of  all  truth  and  common-sense,  that  the 
man  whose  convenience  bids  him  use  it,  may  feel 
assured  that  not  many  advocates  of  Christianity  will 
descend  low  enough  to  spoil  him  of  his  consolation ! 

A  brief  attention  to  this  matter  will  not  be  out  of 
place  at  present. 

The  argument  of  the  writer  referred  to  is  abridged 
in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  as  follows:  **  Our 
belief  of  any  fact  from  the  testimony  of  eye-witnesses 
is  derived  from  no  other  principle  than  our  experience 


MIRACLES.  175 

of  the  veracity  of  human  testimony.  If  the  fact  at- 
tested be  miraculous,  there  arises  a  contest  of  two 
opposite  experiences,  or  proof  against  proof.  Now,  a 
miracle  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature ;  and  as? 
a  firm  and  unalterable  experience  has  established 
these  laws,  the  proof  against  a  miracle,  from  the  very, 
nature  of  the  fact,  is  as  complete  as  any  argument 
from  experience  can  possibly  be  imagined  ;  and  if  so, 
it  is  an  undeniable  consequence  that  it  cannot  be  sur- 
mounted by  any  proof  whatever^  derived  from  human 
testimony." 

Now,  all  this  is  very  conclusive,  provided  we  ad- 
mit its  premises.  The  grand  hinge  of  the  whole  is 
thisy  that  our  belief  in  testimony  is  founded  on  no 
other  principle  than  our  experience  of  the  veracity 
OF  HUMAN  testimony.  Hcncc  the  reasoning  is  that  a 
miracle,  being  in  the  author's  estimation  contrary  to 
experience,  opposes  and  contradicts  the  very  founda- 
tion of  its  evidence,  and  therefore  destroys  itself.  But 
iet  me  ask,  admitting  that  a  miracle  is  contrary  to 
experience — which  is  not  true — what  experience  is  it 
contrary  to?  The  argument  requires  that  it  should 
be  contrary  to  our  experience  of  the  veracity  of  hu- 
man testimony.  To  say  merely  that  it  is  contrary  to 
experience  of  some  sort,  without  specifying  this  par- 
ticular sort,  does  not  touch  the  question.  It  is  its 
contrariety  to  that  particular  kind  of  experience  on 
which  our  faith  in  testimony,  according  to  Hume,  is 
built,  that  must  destroy  the  credibility  of  a  miracle, 
if  it  is  to  be  destroyed  at  all.  But  this  it  would  be 
ridiculous  to  assert.     So  far  from  miracles  being  in- 


176  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

consistent  with  our  experience  of  the  veracity  of  hu- 
man testimony,  the  truth  is  directly  on  the  other  side. 
It  is  not  the  behef,  but  the  denial  that  miracles  have 
ever  been  wrought,  by  which  your  whole  expe- 
rience of  the  veracity  of  human  testimony  is  contra- 
'  dieted. 

But  again,  Is  our  belief  in  testimony  founded  on 
our  experience  of  its  veracity  ?  Prove  that  it  is  not, 
and  the  whole  argument  of  our  author  is  undermined. 
The  proof  is  easy.  None  depend  more  absolutely  upon 
testimony  than  those  whose  experience  is  almost  a 
nullity.  Children  are  perfect  believers  in  its  veracity. 
All  writers  on  the  philosophy  of  the  mind  but  the 
one  before  us  consider  it  an  original  principle  of  na- 
ture, that  we  should  rely  on  testimony  until  there  is 
proof  either  of  suspicious  competency  to  know,  or  of 
suspicious  honesty  to  speak  the  truth.  This  prin- 
ciple is  necessary  to  human  nature  long  before  any 
experience  can  be  gathered  up.  Without  it,  how 
could  children  begin  to  learn?  How  could  they  avoid 
poison,  or  receive  wholesome  food,  if  they  must  wait 
for  an  experience  of  the  veracity  of  their  parents  and 
nurses  and  teachers  before  they  can  believe  what 
they  testify  ?  The  plain  truth  is,  that  instead  of  ex- 
perience being  our  whole  dependence  for  the  credibil- 
ity of  testimony,  it  is  just  the  school  that  makes  us 
sometimes  suspicious  of  that  credibility.  It  teaches 
us  that  testimony  may  be  false,  and  furnishes  the 
characteristics  by  which  we  may  distinguish  between 
that  which  is  suspicious  and  that  which  may  be  con- 
fidently relied  on.     We  deny  therefore,  and  with  evi- 


MIRACLES.  177 

dent  reason,  the  whole  foundation- of  the  argument 
we  are  considering. 

But  again,  another  essential  hinge  in  this  argu- 
ment is  the  assertion  that  a  miracle,  being,  as  the 
author  defines  it,  '^  di  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature," 
is  contrary  to  experience.  Here  we  might  deny  that 
a  miracle  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature.  It  is 
only  a  deviation  from  those  laws,  or  from  the  cus- 
tomary mode  of  the  divine  operations.  But  waving 
this,  what  is  meant  by  a  miracle  being  contrary  to 
experience  ?  Have  we  or  others  ever  experienced  the 
opposite  of  any  of  the  miracles  of  Christ  ?  I  cannot 
conceive  how  this  could  be,  unless  we  had  been  on 
the  spot  when  the  miracle  is  said  to  have  taken  place, 
as  when  Lazarus  is  said  to  have  risen  from  the  dead ; 
and  instead  of  seeing  him  rise,  had  seen  him  continue 
dead.  That  is  the  only  way  in  which  I  can  conceive 
of  opposition  between  experience  and  a  miracle.  The 
resurrection  of  Lazarus  is  not  contrary  to  my  expe- 
rience, any  more  than  a  volcano  is  contrary  to  it.  All 
I  can  say  of  either  is,  that  I  have  never  experienced 
it.  It  is  beyond^  not  in  opposition  to  my  expe- 
rience. 

But  when  our  author  asserts  that  miracles  are 
contrary  to  experience^  what  are  we  to  understand  ? 
Does  he  mean  one's  own  personal  experience,  or  the 
experience  of  all  mankind?  If  the  former,  then  it 
would  follow  that  testimony  can  render  no  event 
credible  to  us  which  we  have  not  personally  expe- 
rienced. But  this  would  be  too  sweeping  even  for 
the  most  absolute  scepticism.  On  this  ground,  a 
8* 


178  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

native  of  the  torrid  zone  might  refuse  the  testimony 
of  the  rest  of  the  world,  in  evidence  of  the  fact  that 
water  in  winter  is  so  congealed  that  we  can  drive  our 
carriages  upon  its  surface.  He  need  only  say,  ^*It  is 
contrary  to  my  experience.  I  have  never  seen  it,  and 
therefore  no  testimony  can  make  it  credible."* 

But  does  our  author  mean  to  be  understood  as 
affirming  that  miracles  are  contrary  to  the  experience 
of  all  mankind?  His  argument  will  then  stand  as  fol- 
lows: *^  Belief  in  testimony  is  founded  on  experience. 
But  miracles  are  contrary  to  the  experience  of  all 
mankind.  They  contradict  therefore  the  credibility 
of  testimony,  and  cannot  be  proved  by  it."  But  this 
is  a  manifest  assumption  of  the  whole  questiort 
Whether  miracles  are  contrary  to  the  experience  of 
all  mankind,  is  the  precise  point  in  debate.  We  as- 
sert that  mankifid,  in  different  ages  and  places,  have 
experienced  them.  Our  author  is  at  liberty,  if  he 
pleases,  to  assert  the  contrary.  But  it  is  too  much 
to. expect  us  to  receive  his  assertion  until  it  is  proved. 
And  if  his  argument  cannot  be  sustained  without  thus 
taking  for  granted,  in  one  of  its  premises,  what  it 
seeks  to  demonstrate  in  the  conclusion,  its  correctness 
is  certainly  very  suspicious. 

The  admission  of  the  principle  on  which  the  argu- 
ment under  consideration  is  founded,  would  lead  to 
perfect  absurdity.  *' There  was  a  time  when  no  one 
was  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  magnetism;  these 
suspend  in  many  instances  the  laws  of  gravity;  nor 

*  On  Hume's  argument,  in  general,  see  the  references  in 
Home's  Introduction,  vol.  1,  p.  243. 


MIRACLES.  179 

can  I  see,  upon  the  principle  in  question,  how  the  rest 
of  mankind  could  have  credited  the  testimony  of  their 
first  discoverer;  and  yet  to  have  rejected  it,  would 
have  been  to  reject  the  truth.  But  that  a  piece  ot 
iron  should  ascend  gradually  from  the  earth,  and  fly 
at  last  w^ith  an  increasing  rapidity  through  the  air, 
and  attaching  itself  to  another  piece  of  iron  ore, 
should  remain  suspended  in  opposition  to  the  action 
of  its  gravity,  is  consonant  to  the  laws  of  nature.  I 
grant  it;  but  there  was  a  time  when  it  was  contrary, 
I  say  not  to  the  laws  of  nature,  but  to  the  uniform 
experience  of  all  preceding  ages  and  countries;  and 
at  the  particular  point  of  time,  the  testimony  of  an 
individual,  or  of  a  dozen  individuals,  who  should  have 
reported  themselves  eye-witnesses  of  such  a  fact, 
ought,  according  to  the  argumentation  "  of  Mr.  Hume, 
*'to  have  been  received  as  fabulous.  And  what  arc 
those  laws  of  nature  which,  according  to  this  writer, 
can  never  be  suspended?  Are  they  not  different  to 
different  men,  according  to  the  diversities  of  their 
comprehension  and  knowledge  ?  And  if  any  one  of 
them — that,  for  instance,  which  rules  the  operations 
of  magnetism  or  electricity — should  have  been  known 
to  you  or  to  me  alone,  while  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
were  unacquainted  with  it,  the  effects  of  it  would 
have  been  new  and  unheard-of  in  the  annals  and  con- 
trary to  the  experience  of  mankind,  and  therefore 
ought  not  in  your  opinion  to  have  been  believed."*  If 
this  be  the  legitimate  result  of  the  principle  in  ques- 
tion— if  no  testimony  could  have  rendered  the  phe- 
*  Bishop  Watson. 


186  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

nomena  of  magnetism  credible  in  the  dawn  of  know- 
ledge on  that  subject,  because  they  were  contrary  to 
experience,  it  is  evident  that  a  certain  truth  and 
Hume's  principle  would  have  been  in  that  case  di- 
rectly in  opposition.  But  whether  the  experience  of 
mankind  be  opposed  by  phenomena  above  the  laws 
of  nature — miracles — or  by  phenomena  which,  though 
in  reality  according  to  those  laws,  are  perfectly  new, 
and  to  all  human  view  inconsistent  with  the  estab- 
lished order  of  nature,  is  of  no  consequence  to  the 
argument.  Experience  is  opposed  in  both  cases  alike. 
It  cannot  be  less  absurd  in  one  than  in  the  other 
to  maintain,  that  because  the  phenomena  have  never 
been  experienced,  no  testimony  can  make  them  cred- 
ible. 

But  if  the  argument  of  Hume,  with  all  its  assump- 
tions and  false  statements  and  equivocal  expressions, 
were  true,  it  would  prove  not  only  that  miracles  can- 
not be  proved  by  testimony,  but  that  they  cannot  be 
proved  at  all.  Now,  that  it  is  possible  for  God  to 
work  a  miracle,  none  will  deny.  Consequently,  that 
it  is  possible  that  the  miracles  related  in  the  New 
Testament  are  true,  none  will  deny.  Suppose  them 
to  be  true,  how  can  they  be  proved  to  us  ?  If  testi- 
mony will  not  do,  what  remains  ?  Mathematical 
evidence  and  the  evidence  of  the  senses  are  perfectly 
inapplicable.  But  there  is  no  other  description  of 
evidence.  If,  therefore,  those  miracles  are  to  be 
proved  to  us,  it  must  be  done  by  some  species  of 
evidence  not  now  in  existence,  entirely  foreign  to  the 
laws  of  nature.     In  other  words,  it  must  be  miracu- 


MIRACLES.  181 

lous.  Miracle  must  be  brought  to  prove  miracle. 
And  since  no  testimony,  according  to  the  principle 
we  are  considering,  can  prove  a  miracle,  the  very- 
miracle  which  is  brought  in  proof  of  those  in  the 
New  Testament,  must  itself  be  proved  by  another 
before  it  can  be  believed  by  any  who  did  not  see  it. 
But  what  an  absurdity  is  here.  If  Jesus  did  open 
the  eyes  of  the  blind,  who  can  maintain  that  God  has 
no  way  of  giving  all  generations  reason  to  believe  it, 
without  an  unceasing  series  of  miracles  in  all  places 
for  the  purpose  ? 

There  is  but  one  way  of  evading  this  extreme  and 
absurd  conclusion.  It  must  be  denied  that  we  have 
any  reason  to  believe  that  Grod  can  work  a  miracle. 
For  as  long  as  it  is  acknowledged  to  be  possible  that 
God  by  the  apostles  did  work  miracles,  the  possi- 
bility of  his  making  them  crexlible  to  us  without 
other  miracles  to  prove  them,  and  by  the  natural 
means  of  human  testimony,  must  also  be  acknow- 
ledged ;  the  latter,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  being  no 
greater  effort  of  power  than  the  former.  To  this 
necessity,  the  sagacity  of  our  philosopher  was  not 
blind.  Nor  does  he  scruple  at  embracing  it,  rather 
than  give  up  his  favorite  discovery.  Speaking  of 
some  alleged  miracles,  he  writes,  ''  What  have  we  to 
oppose  to  such  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  but  the  absolute 
impossibility  or  miraculous  nature  of  the  event  ?" 
In  this  sentence,  it  is  evident  that  "  absolute  impos- 
sibility," and  '^  miraculous  nature,"  are  used  as  equiv- 
alent expressions.  But  elsewhere  he  endeavors  to 
persuade  us  that  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  a 


182  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

miracle  is  possible  with  God.  "  Though  the  Being," 
he  says,  '^  to  whom  the  miracle  is  ascribed,  be  in  this 
case  almighty,  it  does  not  on  that  account  become  a 
whit  more  probable ;  since  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
know  the  attributes  or  actions  of  such  a  Being,  other- 
wise than  from  the  experience  which  we  have  of  his 
productions  in  the  usual  course  of  nature."  This 
brings  us  directly  to  Atheism.  The  argument  is 
thus:  We  know  the  attributes  of  God  only  by  the 
experience  of  his  works  in  the  usual  course  of  nature. 
But,  according  to  our  philosopher,  we  have  no  experi- 
ence of  a  miracle  among  those  works.  Consequently, 
we  have  no  knowledge  that  there  is  any  divine  attri- 
bute by  which  God  can  produce  a  miracle.  Now, 
besides  the  folly  of  denying  the  possibility  of  a  mir- 
acle because  nothing  like  it  is  found  in  the  usual 
course  of  nature,  when  a  miracle  by  its  definition  is 
out  of  the  usual  course  of  nature,  we  have  here  the 
plain  denial  of  the  omnipotence  of  God.  For  if  we 
have  no  reason  to  believe  that  God  can  produce  an 
event  differing  from  and  above  the  ordinary  course  of 
nature,  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  is 
almighty,  or  that  he  is  the  Sovereign  of  nature,  or 
that  he  created  and  preserves  and  governs  all  things. 
The  nature  and  majesty  of  God  are  denied  by  this 
argument.  It  is  Atheism.  There  is  no  stopping- 
place  for  consistency  between  the  first  principle  of 
the  essay  of  Hume,  and  the  last  step  in  the  denial  of 
God  with  the  abyss  of  darkness  for  ever.  Hume, 
accordingly,  had  no  belief  in  the  being  of  God.  If 
he  did  not  positively  deny  it,  he  could  not  assert  that 


MIRACLES.  183 

he  believed  it.  He  was  a  poor,  blind,  groping  com- 
pound of  contradictions.  He  was  literally  "  without 
God  and  without  hope;"  "doting  about  questions 
and  strifes  of  words,"  and  rejecting  life  and  immor- 
tality out  of  deference  to  a  paltry  quibble  which  com- 
mon-sense is  ashamed  of.  "An  unfortunate  dispo- 
sition to  doubt  every  thing,"  said  Lord  Charlemont, 
one  of  his  particular  friends  and  admirers,  "  seemed 
interwoven  with  the  nature  of  Hume,  and  never  was 
there,  I  am  convinced,  a  more  thorough  and  sincere 
sceptic.  He  seemed  not  to  be  certain  even  of  his  own 
present  existence,  and  could  not,  therefore,  be  ex- 
pected to  entertain  any  settled  opinion  respecting  his 
future  state." 

But  it  was  very  needless  for  our  author  to  give 
himself  so  much  intellectual  effort  as  must  have  been 
required  for  the  invention  of  this  short  and  easy 
method  of  undermining  the  evidences  of  Christianity, 
when  he  had  previously  produced  a  much  sliortcr 
and  easier  plan.  He  had  already  proved,  in  his  esti- 
mation, that  there  is  no  external  world — nothing 
but  ideas ;  consequently  there  can  be  no  external 
miracles — nothing  but  miraculous  ideas.  Why  not 
hold  to  this  ?  It  was  certainly  just  as  reasonable, 
just  as  consistent  with  philosophy  and  common-sense, 
as  the  idea  that  no  testimony  can  prove  a  miracle. 

But  our  sweeping  sceptic  was  not  quite  so  well 
satisfied  with  his  arguments  against  alL  testimony 
and  all  sense,  as  would  at  first  appear.  Speaking  of 
his  speculations,  he  says,  "  They  have  so  wrought 
upon  me  and  heated  my  brain,  that  I  am  ready  to 


18*  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

reject  all  belief  and  reasoning,  and  can  look  upon  no 
opinion  even  as  more  probable  or  likely  than  another. 
Where  am  I,  or  what?  From  what  causes  do  I 
derive  my  existence,  and  to  what  condition  shall  I 
return  ?  Whose  favor  shall  I  court,  and  whose  anger 
must  I  dread  ?  What  beings  surround  me,  and  on 
whom  have  I  any  influence,  or  who  have  any  influ- 
ence on  me  ?  I  am  confounded  with  all  these  ques- 
tions, and  begin  to  fancy  myself  in  the  most  deplor- 
able condition  imaginable,  environed  with  the  deepest 
darkness,  and  utterly  deprived  of  the  use  of  every 
member  and  faculty."  A  sad  confession  this  of  the 
satisfaction  of  what  he  calls  *'the  calm,  though  ob- 
scure regions  of  philosophy." 

But  he  proceeds:  ^'Most  fortunately  it  happens 
that  since  reason  is  incapable  of  dispelling  these 
clouds,  nature  herself  suffices  to  that  purpose,  and 
cures  me  of  this  philosophical  melancholy  and  delir- 
ium, either  by  relaxing  this  bent  of  mind,  or  by 
some  avocation  and  lively  impression  of  my  senses, 
which  obliterates  all  these  chimeras.  I  dine,  I  play 
a  game  of  backgammon,  I  converse  and  am  merry 
with  my  friends ;  and  when,  after  three  or  four  hours' 
amusement,  I  would  return  to  these  speculations, 
they  appear  so  cold  and  strained  and  ridiculous,  that 
I  cannot  find  in  my  heart  to  enter  into  them  any  fur- 
ther." A  sad  exhibition  this  of  the  dignity  and  con- 
solations of  scepticism.  But  if  Mr.  Hume  was  some- 
times constrained  to  look  upon  his  own  speculations 
as  strained  and  ridiculous,  we  may  be  pardoned  if 
they  appear  to  us  in  the  same  aspect.     Indeed,  it  was 


MIRACLKs.  185 

more  than  he  could  do,  to  write  consistently  with 
them  for  any  length  of  time.  His  own  common- 
sense  insisted,  sometimes,  on  the  privilege  of  speech ; 
so  that,  after  all  the  show  of  reasoning  to  which  we 
have  been  attending,  after  having  asserted  that  '^  a 
miracle,  supported  by  any  human  testimony,  is  more 
properly  a  subject  of  derision  than  of  argument,"  we 
fmd  him  apparently  coming  to  himself,  and  making 
the  following  most  singular  acknowledgment:  "I 
own  there  may  possibly  be  miracles  of  such  a  kind 
as  to  admit  of  proof  from  human' testimony."  Ho 
then  states  an  imaginary  case  of  miraculous  occur- 
rence, attested  by  a  measure  of  proof,  which  ho  says 
philosophers  ought  to  receive  as  certain  testin:;ony. 
But  how  is  this  ?  Has  he  entirely  abandoned  his 
ground  ?  One  would  think  so.  But  mark  his  method 
of  escape.  We  quote  his  words :  **  But  should  this 
miracle  be  ascribed  to  a  new  system  of  religion,  men 
in  all  ages  have  been  so  imposed  on  by  ridiculous 
stories  of  that  kind,  that  this  very  circumstance  would 
bo  a  full  proof  of  the  cheat."  Here,  evidently,  the 
whole  ground  is  changed.  Miracles  are  no  more  con- 
sidered as  incapable  of  proof  by  testimony.  They 
are  no  more  set  at  naught,  because  contrary  to  'Expe- 
rience. It  is  admitted  that  they  may  be  proved  by 
testimony,  whether  with  object  or  without  it,  except 
when  the  object  is  religion.  It  is  nothing,  therefore, 
in  the  nature  of  a  miracle,  but  only  in  its  application, 
that  renders  it  incredible.  This  is  indeed  a  change. 
A  miracle  may  be  proved  anywhere  but  in  the  service 
of  a  revelation   from  Grod.     But  why  ?     Because, 


186  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

says  our  author,  "  men  in  all  ages  have  been  so  im- 
posed on  by  ridiculous  stories  of  that  kind."  Now, 
besides  that  it  is  untrue  that  any  religion  but  that 
of  the  Bible  ever  attempted  to  set  up  its  claims  by 
the  credentials  of  miracles,  this  is  utter  trifling.  After 
all  the  metaphysical  parade  to  which  we  have  been 
attending,  are  we  brought  to  this,  that  because  some 
men  have  been  knaves  and  fools,  therefore  all  must 
be  such  ?  Can  we  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  none, 
because  hypocrites  have  been  many  ?  Must  we  refuse 
belief  in  any  accounts  of  physical  phenomena,  be- 
cause men  in  all  ages  have  been  imposed  on  by  ridic- 
ulous accounts  of  such  things?  Must  we  decline 
accepting  any  notes  issued  by  our  banks,  because 
men  have  so  often  been  imposed  on  by  counterfeit 
currency  ?  On  the  contrary,  counterfeit  currency  is 
positive  proof  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  sound 
and  honest  currency.  And  in  like  manner,  the  fact 
of  spurious  pretensions  to  miracles,  so  far  from  being 
a  reason  for  rejecting  all  accounts  of  miracles,  is  a 
strong  presumptive  proof  that  some  of  them  are  true. 
An  argument  which  finds  itself  constrained  to  seek 
refuge  under  the  shadow  of  such  a  position  as  this, 
must  indeed  have  been  reduced  to  an  extremity. 

We  have  dwelt  on  this  desperate  eflbrt  of  the 
most  noted  and  acute  sceptic  of  modern  times,  much 
longer  than  was  called  for  by  any  thing  either  diffi- 
cult or  important  in  itself,  because  it  affords  a  very 
strong  presumptive  proof  of  the  impossibility,  by  any 
force  of  talent  or  skilfulness  of  manoeuvre,  of  break- 
ing the  solid  mass  of  testimony  by  which  the  miracles 


MIRACLES.  167 

of  the  gospel  are  defended.  Such  a  mind  as  that  of 
the  historian  of  England  would  never  have  descended 
to  the  absurdity  of  denying  the  credibility  of  all  testi- 
mony in  j)roof  of  a  miracle,  had  it  not  been  that  all 
his  efforts  to  pick  a  flaw  in  the  testimony  of  those  of 
Christianity  had  utterly  failed.  Show  me  a  man 
endeavoring  to  pick  his  way  through  the  stone  wall 
of  a  prison,  and  I  need  not  be  told  that  he  is  shut  up 
and  has  despaired  of  escape  by  the  door. 

The  pains  which  all  sceptics  have  taken  to  escape 
from  being  shut  up  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  adopting 
every  other  conceivable  method  than  the  one  simple 
and  equitable  plan  of  refuting  the  direct  evidences  of 
Christianity,  should  be  considered  unequivocal  proof 
that  there  is  a  force  in  those  evidences  which  their 
enemies  dare  not  encounter  face  to  face — something 
that  persuades  the  bold  champion  of  infidelity  that  in 
this  warfare  **  discretion  is  the  better  part  of  valor." 

But  we  cannot  relinquish  this  division  of  our 
lecture  without  pausing  to  draw  a  lesson  from  the 
scepticism  of  Hume.  That  he  was  a  learned  and 
very  ingenious  writer,  none  can  deny.  That  he  was 
much  more  amiable  and  less  unexemplary  in  his 
temper  and  habits  than  infidel  champions  generally 
are,  we  have  no  disposition  to  question.  But  these 
commendations  only  render  his  case  the  more  affect- 
ing, and  his  insidious  sophistry  the  more  dangerous. 
The  pride  of  reason  was  his  master.  The  praise  of  a 
philosopher  was  his  idol ;  to  doubt  what  others  be- 
lieved, his  habitual  tendency ;  to  maintain  a  paradox 
against  the  world,  his  prevailing  ambition.     Under 


18d  M'1LVA1NE\S  EVlDExXCES. 

the  influence  of  these  dispositions,  the  very  fact  that 
the  rehgion  of  Christ  was  a  revelation  requiring  him 
to  sit  at  its  feet  and  learn,  instead  of  a  theory  flat- 
tering the  sufliciency  of  his  own  powers  to  discover 
truth,  was  its  condemnation.  The  more  it  possessed 
the  sanction  of  ages,  and  of  the  greatest  minds,  the 
more  did  it  rouse  him  to  its  rejection.  The  imposing 
multitude  and  weight  of  its  evidences  were  the  strong- 
est stimulants  of  his  unbelief.  He  first  denied  the 
miracles  of  the  gospel,  and  then  set  his  wits  to  con- 
trive some  grand  argument  by  which  all  the  testi- 
mony in  their  favor  might  be  undermined.  He  reas- 
oned himself  almost  out  of  his  own  existence,  and 
surrounded  himself  with  impenetrable  darkness.  The 
present  was  all  contradiction,  the  future  all  <*an  enig- 
ma," to  his  mind.  Poor  unhappy  philosopher  !  How 
little  his  learning  could  do  in  the  search  of  truth,  for 
want  of  humility^  How  easily  can  all  human  know- 
ledge and  all  mortal  wisdom  become  foolishness, 
when  the  wise  man  leans  to  his  own  understanding, 
instead  of  acknowledging  and  seeking  God  in  all  his 
ways!  That  Hume  was  accustomed  to  pray  for 
guidance  in  his  investigations  of  truth,  it  is  impossible 
to  suppose.  The  great  fountain  of  light  being  thus 
denied,  Grod  gave  him  up  to  the  devices  and  desires 
of  his  own  heart.  Yerily,  '^  He  taketh'the  wise  in 
their  own  craftiness."  Thus,  most  justly,  did  our 
philosopher  meet  with  darkness  in  the  daytime,  and 
was  permitted  to  grope  in  the  noonday  as  in  the 
night.  One  just  view  of  himself  as  a  sinner  would 
have  refuted  and  broke  up  his  whole  system  of  proud 


MIRACLES.  189 

unbelief.  I  have  known  a  good  deal,  by  experience, 
of  the  conflict  which  infidels  maintain  behind  the 
intrenchments  of  Hume  and  other  champions  of  their 
cause;  I  have  known  also  something,  personally,  of 
conversions  among  such  people ;  and  it  has  often  aston- 
ished me  to  see  how  immediately  a  whole  system  of 
well-jointed  infidelity  tumbles  to  pieces — how  entirely 
the  most  darling  argument  against  the  gospel  is 
changed  into  folly,  and  given  to  the  winds,  as  soon 
as  one  realizes  that  he  is  a  sinner  and  must  stand 
before  God  in  judgment. 

4.  Let  us  pass  to  our  fourth  proposition.  The 
testimony  in  proof  of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  has 
not  diminished  in  force  by  the  increase  of  age.  It 
is  not  an  uncommon  idea  that  the  transmission  of 
remote  events  by  successive  testimony,  from  gener- 
ation to  generation,  weakens  their  evidence  in  pro- 
portion to  the  time.  It  is  supposed,  that  had  we 
lived  in  the  fourth  instead  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
we  should  have  possessed  the  testimonial  evidence  of 
the  Christian  miracles  in  much  greater  force  than  it 
is  now  enjoyed.  But  we  deny  that  there  is  any 
reason  for  this  supposition.  Mere  oral  tradition 
must  weaken  with  age ;  but  written  testimony  can- 
not suffer  loss  as  long  as  the  genuineness  of  the  docu- 
ment containing  it  is  unimpaired,  and  the  character 
of  the  witnesses  is  substantiated.  For  example, 
suppose  it  be  recorded  on  the  minutes  of  the  Young 
Men's  Society  of  New  York,  that  on  the  13th  day  of 
January,  1832,  this  lecture  was  delivered  to  its  mem- 
bers, on  the  Evidences   of  Christianity,  and  those 


190  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

minutes  be  laid  up  among  its  records ;  and  the  society 
exist  from  generation  to  generation,  keeping  a  regular 
account  of  its  transactions,  for  four  hundred  years ; 
and  at  the  end  of  that  time  some  one,  searching 
into  its  early  papers,  should  read  the  minutes  of  the 
above  event — the  evidence  of  the  fact  would  be  con- 
sidered as  conclusive  as  if,  instead  of  four  hundred 
years,  only  fifty  had  elapsed  since  its  occurrence. 
The  event  would  be  as  certain  as  the  genuineness  of 
the  record,  and  would  have  no  reference  to  the  age 
of  either.  Let  the  society  continue  a  thousand  years, 
and  its  records  being  still  preserved  uncorrupted,  the 
evidence  will  remain  undiminished.  "We  rely  upon 
the  testimony  in  proof  of  the  invasion  of  Britain  by 
Julius  Caesar,  or  of  Italy  by  Hannibal,  with  quite  as 
much  confidence  as  we  read  of  the  wars  of  Charles 
the  First  in  England.  And  if  our  present  accounts 
of  those  widely  remote  events  shall  be  preserved  to 
the  end  of  the  world,  the  confidence  of  our  posterity 
at  that  time  in  their  historical  correctness,  cceteris 
paribus^  will  be  as  complete  as  ours.  Indeed,  it  is 
only  with  regard  to  the  facts  related  in  the  Bible 
that  men  ever  talk  of  any  diminution,  by  the  lapse 
of  years,  in  the  credibility  of  testimony.  But  with 
how  little  reason  is  evident,  when  you  remember  that 
a  matter  of  historical  fact  is  of  the  same  nature  in 
regard  to  testimony,  whether  it  be  found  between 
the  covers  of  the  Bible  or  those  of  a  Roman  historian. 
For  precisely  the  same  reason  that  the  event  of  this 
lecture,  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the  Young  Men's 
{j^ociety,  would  retain  its  evidence  unimpaired  as  long 


MIRACLES.  191 

as  the  society  and  its  minutes  should  exist  together, 
does  the  testimony  to  the  great  events  of  primitive 
Christianity  continue  to  this  day  unabated.* 

The  society  denominated  the  church  of  Christ 
was  in  existence  when  the  events  recorded  in  its 
Scriptures  occurred.  Its  principal  institutions  are 
founded  upon  them.  Our  New  Testament  books  are 
the  records  of  the  constitution,  origin,  and  early  his- 
tory of  that  society,  which,  like  those  of  any  other 
institution  of  past  ages,  have  been  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  have  died  from  age  to  age,  but  the 
church,  the  society,  the  living  keeper  of  these  records, 
the  Librarian  of  the  Scriptures,  has  never  died.  The 
passing  away  of  the  several  individuals  who,  since 
the  commencement  of  Christianity,  have  belonged  to 
this  society,  has  no  more  to  do  with  the  permanence 
of  the  institution  itself,  than  have  the  rapid  changes 
in  the  particles  of  the  human  body  with  the  perma- 
nence of  the  man.  There  is  a  personal  identity  in 
the  midst  of  continual  change.  The  man  of  seventy 
is  the  very  identical  man  that  he  was  at  twenty, 
though  many  times  have  the  particles  composing  his 
body  been  entirely  changed.  Thus  the  Christian 
church  in  her  nineteenth  century  is  the  same  iden- 
tical society  that  existed  under  that  name  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  though  so  many  generations  of 
members  have  lived  and  died.  She  is  as  capable  of 
remembering  the  events  of  her  youth,  as  we  are  of 
remembering  the  events  of  ours.  The  records  made 
*  Gregory's  Letters. 


192  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

by  her  members  in  testimony  of  those  events,  and  in 
the  age  of  their  occurrence,  having  been  preserved 
in  her  possession  with  the  greatest  vigilance  and  the 
most  zealous  attachment,  are  as  certain  evidence  at 
present,  as  when  they  were  written,  of  the  facts 
related  therein.  She  has  been  reading  those  records 
in  her  places  of  worship,  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 
ever  since  they  were  written  ;  and  she  knows  as  well 
that  they  have  preserved  their  personal  identity,  and 
in  all  important  respects,  their  uncorrupt,  unmuti- 
lated  character,  as  any  of  us  can  know  that  our 
family  Bibles  are  the  same  now  as  when  they  were 
purchased.  Thus,  I  think  we  are  warranted  in  con- 
sidering our  propositions  sustained,  that  the  testi- 
mony in  proof  of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  has  not 
diminished  in  force  by  the  increase  of  age.* 

5.  We  proceed  to  our  last  proposition,  that  in 
being  called  to  examine  the  credibility  of  the  gospel 
miracles  by  the  evidence  of  testimony^  ive  are  more 
favorably  situated  in  regard  to  moral  probation 
and  discipline^  than  if  we  had  been  enabled  to  judge 
of  them  by  evidence  addressed  to  our  own  senses. 
This  will  appear  from  the  consideration,  that  evidence 
obtained  by  the  investigation  of  testimony,  and  ap- 
preciated by  reflection,  is  more  consistent  with  the 
state  of  probation,  and  of  moral  discipline  and  respon- 
sibility in  which  we  are  placed,  than  evidence  forced 
upon  us  by  the  involuntary  agency  of  the  senses. 

We  are  under  trial  and  discipline,  as  well  as  to 
our  understanding  as  our  conduct.  We  are  respon- 
*  Wilson's  Lectures. 


MIRACLES.  193 

sible  as  well  for  what  we  believe,  as  for  what  wo  do. 
Precisely  the  same  causes  that  would  persuade  a 
man  to  immoral  practice,  may  persuade  him  to  im- 
moral principle.  The  same  disposition  that  would 
induce  him  to  disobey  the  precepts,  may  lead  him  to 
deny  the  doctrines  and  evidences  of  the  gospel.  It  is 
therefore  his  trial,  in  part,  whether  in  forming  his 
opinion  of  religious  truth  he  will  so  resist  evil  ex- 
ample and  prejudice,  and  so  deny  himself  the  influ- 
ence of  all  sinful  inclinations  and  partialities,  as  to 
enter  with  honest  candor  upon  the  investigation  of 
what  ho  ought  to  believe  and  do,  with  a  full  deter- 
mination to  embrace  the  truth  wherever  it  may  ap- 
pear. Now,  with  the  nature  and  responsibility  of 
this  probationary  condition,  the  evidence  of  testimony 
in  pjoof  of  the  Christian  miracles  is  specially  con- 
sistent. Did  those  miracles  appear  before  us,  as  once 
for  special  reasons  they  did  before  multitudes,  forcibly 
arresting  our  senses ;  not  only  compelling  attention, 
but  almost  compelling  submission,  by  the  palpable 
and  amazing  evidences  attending  them,  it  is  evident 
that  there  would  remain  comparatively  but  little  room 
for  any  freedom  of  mind  or  will,  and  consequently  for 
any  moral  probation.  Liberty  of  will  and  of  decision 
would  be  suspended  in  proportion  to  the  degree  in 
which  the  senses  should  be  directly  and  impressively 
addressed.  But  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  address- 
ing, not  our  senses,  but  our  minds,  through  the  me- 
dium of  testimony,  possess  a  degree  of  evidence  which, 
while  amply  sufficient  to  satisfy  all  who  examine  it 
with  suitable  impartialitv,  is  not  so  overcoming  but 


1.94  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

that  one  may  reject  it  if  he  choose ;  not  so  irresist- 
ible, but  that  persons  of  indolence  and  indifference, 
or  of  pride  and  prejudice — persons  who  examine  to 
refute  it,  more  than  to  ascertain  its  truth,  or  whose 
habits  and  dispositions  set  them  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  holiness  of  the  gospel,  may  receive  their  reward 
in  being  allowed  to  continue  unconvinced.  They  are 
thus  dealt  with  in  a  way  peculiarly  consistent  with 
their  character  as  moral  and  accountable  agents. 

The  exercise  of  an  active  solicitude  for  the  dis- 
covery of  truth  thus  presented,  and  of  a  fair,  impar- 
tial consideration  of  its  evidence  before  conviction, 
is  as  truly  an  exercise  of  morality,  as  much  an  act 
of  moral  discipline  and  of  a  correct  temper  of  mind, 
as  a  correct  religious  practice  would  be  in  one  already 
convinced.  It  is  also  as  really  an  exhibition  of  im- 
morality and  dissoluteness  to  manifest  a  spirit  of 
indifference,  or  of  prejudice  or  aversion,  in  relation  to 
a  matter  of  such  infinite  impbrtance,  as  if  one  should 
display  the  same  spirit  in  regard  to  the  most  neces- 
sary duties  of  moral  living.  "  Thus,  that  religion  is 
not  intuitively  true,  but  a  matter  of  deduction  and 
inference — that  a  conviction  of  its  truth  is  not  forced 
upon  every  one,  but  is  left  to  be  by  some  collected 
with  a  heedful  attention  to  premises — this  as  much 
constitutes  religious  probation,  as  much  affords  oppor- 
tunity for  right  and  wrong  behavior,  as  any  thing 
whatever."*     It  tests  the  heart  of  the  inquirer. 

But  to  illustrate  our  doctrine,  take  the  case  of 
one  who  is  disposed  to  put  religion  away  from  him — 
*  Butler's  Analogy,  part  2,  ch.  6. 


MIRACLES.  195 

who  comes  to  its  evidences  with  a  decided  wish  that 
it  may  appear  untrue,  and  examines  them  under 
strong  aversions  and  prejudices.  Suppose  him  sud- 
denly arrested  by  the  sight  of  a  miracle  wrought  in 
his  presence,  so  that  in  spite  of  all  his  disUkes  and 
evil  dispositions,  he  cannot  escape  believing.  Take 
then  the  case  of  another  bearing  a  precisely  similar 
character,  who,  having  no  evidence  but  that  of  testi- 
mony, is  obliged  either  to  discipline  his  mind  into  a 
frame  for  candid,  honest  investigation,  or  else  hazard 
the  consequences  of  an  inquiry  conducted  under  the 
influence  of  habits  and  tempers  directly  hostile  to 
the  clear  view  and  impartial  acknowledgment  of  truth. 
Suppose  him  to  choose  the  latter  alternative,  and  that 
he  is  permitted,  in  reward  for  this  voluntary  perver- 
sion of  his  judgment,  to  continue  in  unbelief.  I  ask, 
which  of  these  individuals  is  treated  in  a  way  most 
consistent  with  his  condition  as  a  moral  and  account- 
able agent?* 

*  "  If,"  says  Butler,  "  there  are  any  persons  who  never  set 
themselves  heartily  and  in  earnest  to  be  informed  in  religion ; 
if  there  are  any  who  secretly  wish  it  may  not  prove  true,  and 
are  less  attentive  to  evidence  than  to  difficulties,  and  more  to 
objections  than  to  what  is  said  in  answer  to  them — these  per- 
sons will  scarcely  be  thought  in  a  likely  way  of  seeing  the 
evidence  of  religion,  though  it  were  most  certainly  true  and 
capable  of  being  ever  so  fully  proved.  If  any  accustom 
themselves  to  consider  this  subject  usually  in  the  way  of 
mirth,  or  sport;  if  they  attend  to  forms  and  representations, 
and  inadequate  manners  of  expression,  instead  of  the  real 
things  intended  by  them— for  signs  often  can  be  no  more  than 
inadequately  expressive  of  the  things  signified — or  if  they 
substitute  human  errors  in  the  room  of  divine  truth,  why 
may  not  all,  or  any  of  these  things,  hinder  some  men  from 


196  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

But  besides  the  greater  adaptation  to  a  probation- 
ary state,  there  is  greater  spiritual  profit  in  the  way 
by  which  we  of  latter  days  must  arrive  at  the  truth 
of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel.  Take  the  case  of  two 
Christians;  let  one  be  a  disciple  of  these  days,  and 
the  other,  Thomas,  one  of  the  apostles.  They  are 
equally  convinced  of  the  Saviour's  resurrection,  but 
by  different  means :  Thomas,  by  the  force  of  sight  and 
touch;  the  other,  by  a  careful,  honest  examination  of 
the  testimony  we  now  possess.  Which,  in  becoming 
a  disciple,  expressed  the  greater  love  of  the  truth? 
Which,  the  greater  readiness  to  receive  and  submit  to 
it?  Thomas  had  only  to  open  his  eyes  and  reach 
forth  his  hand;  the  other  pursued  a  course  of  candid, 
patient,  serious  reflection.  Thomas  required  for  his 
conviction  that  the  Saviour  should  stand  before  him, 
and  say,    *'Be   not  faithless,   but  beheving."     The 

seeing  that  evidence  which  really  is  seen  by  others,  as  a  like 
turn  of  mind  with  respect  to  matters  of  common  speculation 
and  practice  does,  we  find  by  experience,  hinder  them  from 
attaining  that  knowledge  and  right  understanding,  in  matters 
of  common  speculation  and  practice,  which  more  fair  and  at- 
tentive minds  can  attain  to  1  And  in  general,  levity,  careless- 
ness, passion,  and  prejudice,  do  hinder  us  from  being  rightly 
informed  with  respect  to  common  things ;  and  they  may  in 
like  manner,  and  perhaps  in  some  further  providential  manner 
with  respect  to  moral  and  religious  subjects,  hinder  evidence 
from  being  laid  before  us,  and  from  being  seen  when  it  is. 
The  Scripture  does  declare  that  every  one  shall  not  under- 
stand. And  it  makes  no  difference  by  what  providential  con- 
duct this  comes  to  pass  ;  whether  the  evidence  of  Christianity 
was  originally  and  with  design,  put,  and  left,  so  that  those 
who  are  desirous  of  evading  moral  obligations  should  not  see 
it,  and  that  honest-minded  persons  should ;  or  whether  it  comes 
to  pass  by  any  other  means."   Butler's  Analogy,  part  2,  ch.  6. 


MIRACLES.  197 

other  went  forth  seeking  "the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus," 
through  all  the  reasoning  and  objections,  all  the  pa- 
tient consideration  and  study  which  circumstances 
placed  in  his  way,  not  demanding  to  be  constrained 
by  the  arrest  of  his  senses,  but  prepared  to  submit  as 
soon  as  the  testimony  was  sufficient.  Now,  it  is 
plain  that  in  this  case  there  is  a  simplicity  of  heart, 
a  love  of  truth,  a  candor  in  its  pursuit,  and  a  willing- 
ness to  bow  to  it  at  all  cost,  such  as  are  by  no  means 
implied  in  the  conviction  of  Thomas.  It  is  plain,  also, 
that  the  moral  discipline  to  which  the  former  was 
subjected,  and  the  state  of  mind  involved  in  the  mode 
by  which  he  came  at  the  truth,  are  far  more  condu- 
cive to  his  happiness,  and  afford  a  much  higher  promise 
of  steadfast  and  elevated  attachment  to  the  service  of 
the  truth,  than  if,  like  Thomas,  it  could  be  said  of 
him,  **  Because  thou  hast  seen,  thou  hast  believed." 
So  that  we  may  now  acknowledge  the  truth  of  those 
words,  <*  Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet 
have  believed ;"  and  may  repeat  our  proposition,  that 
in  having  to  try  the  credibility  of  the  gospel  miracles 
by  the  evidence  of  testimony,  we  are  more  favorably 
situated,  in  a  very  important  sense,  than  had  we 
been  present  to  judge  them  by  the  evidence  of  our 
senses.* 

From  the  whole  truth  exhibited  in  this  lecture, 
we  are  called  to  adore  the  wisdom  of  God.  "His 
ways  are  not  as  our  ways,  neither  his  thoughts  as  our 
thoughts."  Why,  in  such  a  momentous  business  as 
that  of  religion,  demands  some  weak  mortal,  was  not 
*  See  Saurin  on  Obscure  Faith. 


198  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

truth  rendered  intuitively  certain,  so  that  the  most 
careless  could  not  mistake?  Why,  asks  another, 
should  such  tremendous  matters  be  necessarily  settled 
by  investigation  and  argument,  by  the  weight  of  tes- 
timony and  the  records  of  distant  ages,  instead  of 
bringing  them  at  once  to  the  test  of  every  one's  expe- 
rience? *^Show  us  a  sign,"  is  still  the  requisition 
of  multitudes,  who,  if  they  must  believe,  desire  to  do 
it  without  trouble ;  but  would  much  rather  be  excused 
from  both.  Cfod  is  infinitely  wiser.  ''He  knoweth 
whereof  we  are  made."  He  has  dignified  us  with 
reason,  as  well  as  sense;  and  made  us  capable  of 
learning  by  reflection  and  study,  as  well  as  of  know- 
ing by  instinct  and  necessity.  He  deals  with  us  as 
rational  beings.  He  makes  us  responsible  for  the 
use  of  our  minds,  as  well  as  of  our  limbs.  He  re- 
quires the  obedience  of  the  will,  the  labor  of  our 
thoughts,  and  the  painstaking  of  all  our  intellectual 
and  moral  faculties,  in  order  that  we  may  know  and 
serve  him  as  becometh  our  natures.  To  this  end,  he 
has  so  constructed  religion,  and  delivered  to  us  its 
evidences,  that  whoever  is  sufficiently  desirous  of  the 
knowledge  of  His  will,  to  bestow  his  best  thoughts  and 
affections  and  efforts  upon  the  work  of  its  discovery, 
in  order  that  he  may  embrace  it,  earnestly  looking  up 
'to  Grod  for  protection  against  prejudice  and  for  guid- 
ance in  the  way  of  light,  will  certainly  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  will  arrive  at  it  by  a  way 
most  wisely  adapted  to  make  him  hold  fast  and  obey 
it.  On  the  other x hand,  Grod  has  so  framed  the  gos- 
pel and  set  before  us  its  credentials,  that  whether 


MIRACLES.  199 

one  will  believe  or  not  is  left  to  his  free  and  volun- 
tary choice;  his  probationary  character  is  inviolate; 
his  reason  and  his  will  are  perfectly  responsible.  If 
he  desire  not  to  believe;  if  his  heart  revolt  against 
the  gospel  on  account  of  the  humility  and  repentance 
and  holiness  and  self-denial  it  demands  of  him ;  if  ho 
study  its  nature  and  evidence  carelessly,  proudly,  and 
partially;  if  he  consult  more  the  objector  than  the 
advocate,  and  try  to  invent  reasons  for  unbeUef  more 
than  arguments  for  the  contrary ;  if  he  love  vice,  and 
would  retain  his  sins,  he  may  easily  convince  him- 
self against  the  claims  of  the  gospel.  God  has  left 
unclosed  many  avenues  by  which  such  a  man  may 
escape  into  infidelity.  He  is  wisely  punished  by 
being  permitted  to  go  in  thereat.  God  may  justly 
take  him  at  his  word,  and  condemn  him  to  the  dark- 
ness and  final  misery  of  rejecting  what  he  investi- 
gated so  unjustly.  It  is  the  wisdom  of  God  that  his 
truth  does  not,  in  offering  conviction  to  such  examin- 
ers, afford  at  the  same  time  encouragement  to  such 
un  worthiness. 


200  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 


LECTURE    VI. 

MIRACLES— CONTINUE  D. 

Our  last  lecture  was  occupied  in  settling  certain 
preliminaries,  for  the  purpose  of  being  enabled  in 
this  to  enter  directly  upon  the  work  of  weighing  the 
testimony  to  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apostles 
The  question  to  which  we  now  proceed  may  be  stated 
thus :  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  claimed  to  be  received 
as  a  teacher  come  from  God  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
municating a  divine  revelation.  His  apostles  claimed 
to  be  received  as  his  inspired  and  divinely  commis- 
sioned agents  in  publishing  that  revelation.  All  ap- 
pealed to  miracles  as  the  credentials  of  their  embassy. 
None  can  deny  that  such  credentials,  plainly  ascer- 
tained, are  certain  proof  of  the  sanction  of  God.  The 
appeal  to  them  is  therefore  unquestionably  fair.  The 
point,  then,  which  remains  to  be  determined  is.  Have 

WE  SATISFACTORY  EVIDENCE  THAT  GENUINE  MIRACLES 
WERE  WROUGHT  BY  THE  LoRD  JeSUS  ChRIST  AND  HIS 
APOSTLES? 

In  answer  to  this  question,  we  might  proceed  on 
a  plan  of  argument  which  would  occupy  but  a  few 
moments.  In  the  lecture  preceding  the  last,  we 
ascertained  the  credibility  of  the  gospel  history;  in 
other  words,  that  we  have  the  strongest  reason  to 
rely  implicitly  on  the  narratives  contained  therein,  as 
to  all  matters  of  fact.     Now,  it  is  there  related,  that 


MIRACLES.  201 

on  a  certain  occasion  our  Saviour  was  followed  by 
five  thousand  men  into  a  desert  place,  where  they 
were  in  need  of  food ;  that  all  the  food  at  hand  was 
five  barley  loaves  and  a  few  small  fishes;  that  of 
these  he  commanded  his  disciples  to  distribute  to  the 
multitude;  and  after  they  had  all  eaten  and  were 
filled,  the  fragments  remaining  were  much  more  in 
quantity  than  the  original  loaves  and  fishes.  These 
are  plain  statements,  related  in  the  gospel  as  unques- 
tionable facts.  The  gospel  history  being  credible, 
they  must  be  true.  To  call  that  a  credible  history, 
and  then  suppose  it  unworthy  of  reliance  in  such 
prominent  particulars,  would  be  absurd.  But  these 
facts  constitute  a  miracle.  There  must  have  been  a 
miraculous  multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes. 
Consequently,  in  having  proved  the  credibility  of  the 
gospel  history,  we  have  proved  that  in  this  case  a 
miracle  was  wrought. 

Thus  might  we  proceed  with  regard  to  a  great 
variety  of  other  statements,  as  to  the  works  of  Christ 
and  liis  apostles;  and  I  fully  believe  that,  in  strict 
justice,  nothing  more  ought  to  be  required  in  evidence 
of  the  gospel  miracles,  than  what  has  been  already 
adduced  in  proof  of  the  credibility  of  the  narratives 
contained  in  the  New  Testament.  But  inasmuch  as 
our  object  is  not  merely  to  exhibit  a  sound  and  con- 
clusive argument,  such  as  ought  to  satisfy  every 
mind,  but  so  to  present  the  great  variety  and  abun- 
dance of  proof  in  support  of  Christianity,  that  no  at- 
tentive, candid  mind  can  help  being  satisfied,  we  will 
adopt  a  broader  plan. 

9* 


202  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Before  proceeding  any  further,  let  it  be  remarked, 
that  the  religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  whieh^ 
in  its  first  introduction^  appealed  to  miracles  for 
evidence  of  the  divine  authority  of  its  teachers. 
Under  the  religion  of  the  Bible  I  include  the  dispen- 
sation of  Moses  and  that  of  Christ,  as  exhibiting  es- 
sentially the  same  religion,  though  more  largely  and 
clearly  revealed  under  the  latter  than  under  the  for- 
mer. Both  dispensations  were  introduced  and  sanc- 
tioned by  miracles.  Now,  I  know  it  is  a  common 
supposition,  that  the  same  mode  of  attestation  was 
resorted  to  by  all  the  false  religions  that  ever  gained 
acceptance  in  the  world,  and  that  this  was  the  chief 
cause  of  their  ascendency  in  the  public  mind ;  but  the 
truth  is,  that  no  religion,  except  that  of  the  Bible, 
was  ever  set  up  by  appeal  to  miracles  as  the  creden- 
tials of  its  founder.  We  speak  of  miracles  which  are 
capable  of  being  witnessed  and  investigated  by  oth- 
ers. It  is  not  asserted  that  many  wonderful  things 
of  a  miraculous  nature  have  not  been  pretended  to 
and  boasted  among  the  disciples  of  sundry  false  relig- 
ions. The  annals  of  paganism  abound  with  relations 
of  auguries  and  oracles  and  apparitions.  Many  mi- 
raculous, not  to  say  ridiculous  marvels,  are  asserted 
of  Mohammed.  But  the  remark  is  applicable  to  all 
of  these  things,  and  is  of  great  importance  in  connec- 
tion with  our  present  object,  that  they  were  asserted 
not  as  proofs  of  religions  appealing  to  them  for  creden- 
tials, but  only  as  appendages  of  religions  already  set 
up,  and  previously  received  on  considerations  entirely 
independent  of  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  such  marvels. 


MIRACLES.  203 

It  was  the  credit  and  influence  of  a  religion  already 
established  which  gave  them  all  their  currency,  and 
not  their  evidence  which  established  the  religion  with 
which  they  were  respectively  connected.  The  prod- 
igies of  heathenism,  unaccompanied  as  they  werd"  by 
any  pretence  of  proof,  had  no  manner  of  reference  to 
the  setting  up  of  a  new  system  of  faith,  or  of  a  teach- 
er pretending  to  a  divine  commission.  Miraculous 
stories  were  published  of  Mohammed  by  writers  of 
six  and  eight  centuries  after  his  death,  but  no  such 
pretensions  were  made  by  himself.  On  the  contrary, 
he  expressly  disclaimed  miraculous  powers.  In  the 
Koran  it  is  written  of  him,  *^  Nothing  hindered  us 
from  sending  thee  with  miracles,  except  that  the  for- 
mer nations  have  charged  them  with  imposture." 
Again,  "  They  say,  unless  a  sign  be  sent  down  unto 
him  from  his  Lord,  we  will  not  believe;  answer, 
signs  are  in  the  power  o(  God  alone,  and  I  am  no 
more  than  a  public  preacher.  Is  it  not  sufficient  for 
them  that  we  have  sent  down  unto  them  the  book  of 
the  Koran,  to  be  read  unto  them?"  We  grant  that 
Mohammed  did  give  out  to  the  credulity  of  his  follow- 
ers a  few  marvellous  doings;  but  they  were  such  as 
cannot  be  included  under  the  title  of  sensible  miracles, 
inasmuch  as  he  always  took  the  discreet  precaution 
of  having  no  witness  but  himself,  entirely  avoiding 
the  hazardous  experiment  of  resting  the  evidence  of 
his  divine  mission  upon  the  testimony  of  any  eyes 
more  disinterested  than  his  own. 

But  how  can  it  be  accounted  for  that  one  of  such 
high  pretensions — aware,  as  he  was,  of  the  success 


204  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

which  miracles  had  obtained  for  the  gospel  in  times 
past — should  have  neglected  so  powerful  a  means  of 
proselyting  the  world  ?  It  was  not  for  want  of  im- 
portunity on  the  part  of  others;  for  his  opposers 
were  constantly  teasing  him  with  their  demands  on 
this  head.  It  was  not  because  he  could  anticipate 
no  favorable  influence  from  a  well-sustained  preten- 
sion to  miracles ;  for  his  adversaries  assured  him, 
even  by  oaths,  that  on  the  evidence  of  one  such  sign 
they  would  own  his  claims.  Nor  was  it  that  Mo- 
hammed was  too  honest.  The  marvellous  tales  of 
the  nocturnal  visits  of  Grabriel,  of  his  own  night- 
journey,  and  of  the  transmission,  from  time  to  time, 
of  parcels  of  the  uncreated  book  from  heaven,  prove 
what  this  impostor  was  capable  of  attempting  when 
allured  by  a  prospect  of  success.  Nor  was  it  that 
this  unequalled  adventurer  was  deficient  in  an  un- 
usual degree  of  craft  and  address  for  the  manage- 
ment of  bold  imposture.  His  whole  biography  would 
refute  such  an  opinion.  Nor  was  it  that  he  was  sur- 
rounded with  a  people  peculiarly  prepared,  by  know- 
ledge and  cultivated  discernment,  for  the  detection  of 
such  frauds.  The  age  was  one  of  the  darkest  in  the 
annals  of  man,  and  his  country  one  of  the  darkest  of 
that  age.  Nor  could  it  have  been  that  his  cause 
needed  no  such  auxiliary,  for  the  fruits  of  his  labor, 
during  the  first  three  years,  were  only  fourteen  dis- 
ciples ;  and  in  ten  years  his  cause  had  not  advanced 
beyond,  and  had  made  but  little  progress  within,  the 
walls  of  Mecca.  Then  if  Mohammed  was  neither  too 
honest  to  attempt  the  forgery  of  miracles,   nor  too 


MIRACLES.  205 

unskilful  to  manage  it  with  cunning  and  address; 
if  his  cause  needed  it,  and  his  enemies  demanded  it, 
and  the  barbarity  of  the  people  and  age  favored  it, 
no  earthly  reason  can  be  given  for  his  having  dis- 
claimed the  attempt,  except  that  he  considered  it  too 
difficult  and  hazardous,  too  certain  of  detection,  even 
among  a  barbarous,  credulous,  and  superstitious  race. 
The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  that  ever 
ventured  on  such  evidence  in  proof  of  divine  original. 
This  single  fact,  united  with  the  well-known  truth, 
that  however  her  miracles  may  have  been  derided 
and  suspected  by  enemies,  none  ever  pretended  to 
have  discovered  an  imposition,  is  strong  presumptive 
evidence  that  they  had  a  reality  which  no  human 
device  could  rival — a  truth  which  no  human  scrutiny 
oould  alarm. 

In  coming,  therefore,  to  our  present  examination, 
we  should  feel  that  the  religion  of  the  Bible  stands 
alone,  not  only  as  to  the  wisdom  and  grandeur  of  her 
communications,  but  equally  so  as  to  the  boldness  of 
her  evidence,  the  sublimity  of  her  credentials,  and 
the  godlike  dignity  with  which  she  cometh  to  the 
light,  that  her  deeds  *^  may  be  made  manifest  that 
they  are  wrought  in  God." 

We  proceed  to  the  testimony  connected  with  the 
miracles  of  Christ. 

1.  We  observe,  in  the  first  place,  that  supposing 
the  works  related  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  have  actually 
occurred,  many  of  them  must  have  been  genuine 
miracles.  They  cannot  be  ascribed  to  natural  causes. 
If  five  thousand  men  were  fed,  when  all  the  food  to  feed 


206  M'-ILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

them  with,  prior  to  the  act  of  Jesus,  was  a  few  loaves 
and  fishes ;  if  the  centurion's  servant  was  healed  at 
the  word  of  Jesus,  while  the  latter  was  nowhere 
within  the  sight,  or  hearing,  or  knowledge  of  that 
servant ;  if  the  man  born  blind  was  made  to  see  by 
no  other  physical  act  than  that  of  Jesus  putting  clay 
on  his  eyes,  and  his  washing  it  off  in  the  pool  of 
Siloam ;  if  Lazarus,  having  been  dead  four  days,  did 
come  forth  from  the  sepulchre  at  the  word  of  Jesus, 
then  we  have  facts  for  which  no  natural  causes  can 
account.  They  are  unquestionable  miracles,  and  we 
are  forced  to  the  alternative  of  either  denying,  in  the 
face  of  all  evidence,  the  truth  of  the  statements  con- 
tained in  the  gospel  history,  or  else  acknowledging 
that  miracles,  in  the  fullest  sense,  were  wrought  at 
the  word  of  Christ. 

2.  The  miracles  of  Christ  were  such  as  could  at 
once  be  brought  to  the  test  of  the  senses.  It  is  essential 
to  a  rational  belief  in  miraculous  agency,  that  we  be 
presented  with  facts  of  such  a  nature  that  the  senses 
of  those  present  could  easily  decide  upon  their  reality 
and  their  supernatural  character.  Now,  that  the 
senses  of  the  most  ignorant  were  as  competent  as 
those  of  the  most  learned;  that  the  senses  of  any 
man  or  woman  in  Judea  were  perfectly  competent  to 
decide  whether  the  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain,  having 
been  dead  and  carried  out  to  be  buried,  did  arise 
and  sit  up  at  the  word  of  Christ,  and  continue  there- 
after to  reside,  a  living  man,  in  Nain  ;  that  any  one's 
senses  were  perfectly  competent  to  judge  whether 
thousands  of  men  were  fed  with  a  few  loaves  and 


MIRACLES.  207 

fishes,  or  the  blind  received  their  sight,  or  the  lepers 
were  cleansed,  or  those  notoriously  lame  from  their 
birth  were  enabled  to  walk  at  the  bidding  of  Christ, 
it  would  be  folly  to  doubt. 

3.  The  miracles  of  Christ  were  performed  for  the 
most  part  in  the  most  public  manner.  It  is  the  de- 
tracting circumstance  of  all  the  most  plausible  pre- 
tensions to  miracles,  exclusive  of  those  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  they  were  done  in  a  corner,  or  in  the  pres- 
ence only  of  those  already  inclined  to  believe  them,  or 
under  favor  of  circumstances  calculated  to  prevent  a 
free  examination.  Just  the  contrary,  is  the  fact  with 
regard  to  a  great  portion  of  the  wonderful  works  of 
Christ.  Not  only  were  they  accessible  to  the  senses 
of  witnesses,  but  to  the  senses  of  multitudes  of  wit- 
nesses, of  witnesses  with  the  most  eager  and  violent 
enmity  to  the  claims  of  Jesus;  witnesses  from  all 
ranks  and  classes  in  society — the  learned  and  mighty, 
as  well  as  the  ignorant  and  feeble — tlie  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  the  priest  and  the  centurion,  as  well  as 
the  publicans  and  beggars.  It  was  in  the  syna- 
gogues, in  the  streets,  in  the  open  fields  surrounded 
by  thousands,  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  at  the 
time  of  the  great  annual  festivals,  when  an  inmiense 
concourse  of  Jews,  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
crowded  the  holy  city,  that  almost  all  of  the  mighty 
works  of  Jesus  were  performed.  In  this  way,  as  in 
other  ways,  he  could  say  to  his  persecutors,  *'I  spake 
openly  to  the  world." 

His  miracles  were  wrought  upon  subjects  so  nu- 
merous, in  so  many  places,  and  in  such  circumstances, 


208  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

that  none  could  suspect  the  cases  to  have  been  previ- 
ously selected  and  prepared.  What  the  condition  of 
the  subject  had  been  before  the  miracle,  thousands 
knew,  and  all  could  easily  ascertain.  "What  it  was, 
for  a  long  time  after  the  miracle,  was  equally  noto- 
rious. Those  who  were  cured  of  blindness,  or  leprosy, 
or  lameness,  or  palsy,  or  who  had  been  raised  from 
the  dead,  did  not  die  immediately  after,  nor  hide 
themselves  from  public  inspection ;  but  continued  to 
go  in  and  out  among  the  people,  as  living  examples 
of  the  power  of  Christ.  The  grave  of  Lazarus  was 
surrounded  with  unbelieving  Jews.  They  saw  him 
come  forth.  They  had  as  much  opportunity  as  dis- 
position to  find  out  whether  it  was  Lazarus  or  some 
one  else — whether  the  man  was  alive,  or  only  pre- 
tending to  be  alive.  Instead  of  being  immediately 
snatched  from  their  view,  he  was  seated  some  time 
after  as  one  of  the  guests  at  a  supper  in  Bethany ; 
and  so  well  known  was  the  fact,  that  ''  much  people 
of  the  Jews"  came  to  the  place  to  have  a  sight  of 
one  who  had  been  raised  from  the  dead.  ''  The  chief 
priests  consulted  that  they  might  put  him  to  death, 
because  that,  by  reason  of  him,  many  of  the  Jews 
went  away  and  believed  on  Jesus." 

4.  The  miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  were 
very  numerous^  and  of  great  variety.  It  has  been  a 
characteristic  of  all  cases  of  imposture,  that  the  won- 
derful works  pretended  to  were  but  few  in  number, 
and  of  great  sameness.  The  sect  of  the  Jansenists, 
in  the  church  of  Rome,  pretended  to  miracles  at  the 
tomb,  and  by  the  posthumous  intercessions  of  the 


MIRACLES.  209 

Abbe  Paris.  But,  besides  the  want  of  evidence  that 
any  of  the  facts  recorded  were  miraculous,  they  were 
neither  numerous  nor  various.  Could  this  be  s^id  of 
the  works  of  Christ,  it  would  deprive  them  of  one  of 
the  most  palpable  evidences  of  the  fearless  integrity 
in  which  they  were  wrought.  But  his  history  is  full 
of  miraculous  works.  Besides  about  forty  that  are 
related  at  large,  we  frequently  meet  with  such  ac- 
counts as  this  :  **  His  fame  went  throughout  all  Syria  : 
and  they  brought  unto  him  all  sick  people  that  were 
taken  with  divers  diseases  and  torments,  and  those 
which  were  possessed  with  devils,  and  those  which 
were  lunatic,  and  those  that  had  the  palsy;  and  he 
healed  them."*  Similar  declarations  are  made  as  to 
the  miracles  of  the  apostles.  As,  for  example,  in 
Acts  5:16:  *'  There  came  also  a  multitude  out  of  the 
cities  round  about  unto  Jerusalem,  bringing  sick 
folks,  and  them  which  were  vexed  with  unclean 
spirits ;  and  they  were  healed  every  one." 

But  the  miracles  of  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles 
were  also  of  great  variety.  It  was  not  disease  of 
one  or  two  classes  only  that  Jesus  removed,  but  dis- 
ease of  all  kinds.  Not  diseases  only,  but  all  kinds 
of  human  calamity,  departed  at  his  will  Even  death 
surrendered  his  captives  at  his  command.  The  blind 
from  their  birth,  the  hopeless  leper,  those  that  were 
lame  from  the  womb,  those  that  had  long  been  bowed 
down  with  infirmity,  the  withered,  the  palsied,  the 
insane,  all  were  alike  delivered  from  their  affliction. 
On  two  occasions  thousands  were  fed  with  a  mere 
•  Matt.  4  :  24. 


210         .  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

pittance  of  food.  Thrice,  besides  the  instance  of  his 
own  resurrection,  did  Jesus  raise  the  dead.  A  cor- 
responding variety  characterizes  the  works  of  his 
apostles. 

5.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  remark, 
that  amidst  all  this  variety,  the  success  in  every 
instance  was  instantaneous  and  complete.  The  sick 
were  perfectly  healed.  The  deaf  and  blind  and 
lame  were  perfectly  delivered  from  their  infirmities ; 
the  leper  was  entirely  cleansed ;  the  dead  arose,  not 
merely  to  life,  but  to  health  and  strength.  These 
effects  were  as  immediate  as  they  were  perfect.  No 
sooner  was  the  voice  spoken,  or  the  thing  done,  that 
was  required  of  the  applicant,  than  all  was  finished. 
Did  Jesus  say,  '*  Let  there  be  light  ?"  there  was  light ; 
**  Let  there  be  health?"  there  was  health.  He  left  no 
time  for  second  causes  to  operate — no  room  for  human 
means  to  intervene.  "  He  spake,  and  it  was  done. 
He  commanded,  and  it  stood  fast." 

6.  There  is  no  evidence  of  an  attempt  on  the  part 
of  Christ  or  his  apostles  to  perform  a  miracle,  in 
which  they  were  accused  of  having  failed.  It  is 
notoriously  true  of  the  wonderful  works'  ascribed  to 
the  tomb  of  the  Abbe  Paris,  for  example,  that  the 
cases  in  which  any  beneficial  effects  resulted  to  the 
applicants  were  very  inconsiderable  in  number,  com- 
pared with  those  in  which  there  was  a  manifest  and 
total  failure.  But  although  the  ministry  of  Christ 
lasted  between  three  and  four  years,  during  which 
he  was  continually  resorted  to  by  multitudes,  with  a 
great  variety  of  cases,  seeking  his  miraculous  aid  ; 


HIRACLES.  211 

and  although  the  ministry  of  his  apostles  continued 
many  years  longer,  during  which  time  they  are  said 
to  have  been  attested  by  ^'  divers  miracles,"  no  case 
is  mentioned  in  which  an  attempt  was  unsuccessful, 
or  in  which  an  applicant  was  denied.  The  language 
of  the  history  in  relation  to  the  multitudes  that  ap- 
plied to  Christ  is  continually,  **  He  healed  them  all." 
The  enemies  of  the  gospel,  who  were  eye-witnesses  of 
these  applicants,  did  never  maintain  that  the  power 
of  Christ  or  of  his  disciples  was  exerted  unsuccess- 
fully in  a  single  instance.  Had  such  an  event  taken 
place,  would  they  not  have  discovered  it  ?  Had  they 
discovered  it,  would  they  not  have  proclaimed  it  far 
and  wide  ?  "Would  any  of  the  books  written  against 
Christianity  in  the  first  centuries  have  omitted  so 
important  a  fact  ?  The  total  absence  of  all  insinua- 
tion of  such  a  thing  in  the  whole  controversy  between 
the  primitive  Christians  and  their  adversaries,  is  cer- 
tain evidence  that  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was  never 
made,  and  that  an  unsuccessful  applicant  was  not 
known.* 

Now,  on  the  supposition  that  the  miraculous  do- 
ings recorded  in  the  gospel  were  all  a  cheat,  what  a 
miracle  is  here  !  That  all  was  contrivance  and  im- 
posture and  accident,  and  yet  not  an  enemy  ever 
detected  an  instance  of  failure ;  that  the  machinery 
was  never  out  of  place,  out  of  time,  or  out  of  order ; 

*  The  case  mentioned  in  Matthew  17 :  14-21,  would  have 
been  an  example  of  failure,  had  the  narrative  ended  with  the 
inability  of  the  disciples.  But  the  Master  performed  what 
they,  being  as  yet  in  their  noviciate,  had  attempted  in  vain. 


212  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

that  it  was  equally  successful  in  all  cases,  equally- 
ready  at  all  seasons,  always  invisible,  yet  always  at 
hand,  and  always  instantaneously  effectual — what  a 
miracle  I  Who  is  the  man  of  weak  credulity  ?  the 
believer,  or  the  infidel  ? 

7.  The  length  of  time  during  which  the  Saviour 
and  his  apostles  professed  to  perform  miracles,  should 
be  specially  considered.  Seventy  years  elapsed  be- 
tween the  commencement  of  the  ministry  of  Christ 
and  the  death  of  the  last  of  the  apostles.  During  all 
this  interval  the  miraculous  gifts  in  question  were 
exercised.  Now,  as  every  repetition  in  case  of  im- 
posture multiplies  the  dangers  of  detection,  and  every 
extension  hi  time  makes  it  the  more  difficult  to  keep 
up  the  confederated  plan,  it  is  no  inconsiderable  evi- 
dence of  the  genuineness  of  the  miracles  of  the 
gospel,  that  they  continued  to  be  wrought  and  in- 
spected during  a  period  of  so  many  years,  and  yet  so 
securely. 

This  consideration  is  the  more  important  when 
you  reflect  that  the  miracles  were  not  confined  to 
one  or  two  places — were  not  wrought  in  little  vil- 
lages, or  among  the  poor  and  ignorant  only,  but  that 
the  scenes  of  most  of  them  were  in  the  chief  cities  of 
the  Roman  empire.  Instead  of  remaining  together 
in  one  place,  or  moving  together  wherever  they  de- 
sired to  produce  an  impression,  and  then  confining 
themselves  to  such  places  as  might  be  most  easily 
deceived,  the  apostles,  with  singular  folly,  on  the 
supposition  that  they  were  confederated  for  an  im- 
posture, separated  to  all  parts  of  the  world.     They 


MIRACLES.  213 

went  alone  to  the  most  populous,  polished,  and  en- 
lightened cities.  They  put  themselves  in  the  most 
public  places  of  those  cities ;  thus  making  combina- 
tion impossible,  and  rendering  their  success,  as  mere 
counterfeiters,  perfectly  miraculous. 

8.  We  have  the  most  perfect  certainty  that  the 
miracles  of  the  gospel  at  the  time  they  were  wrought, 
and  for  a  long  time  after,  were  subject  to  the  most 
rigid  examination  from  those  who  had  every  oppor- 
tunity of  scrutinizing  their  character.  Forged  mir- 
acles may  pass  current  where  power  and  authority 
or  the  favorable  dispositions  of  the  people  protect 
them  from  too  close  an  inspection.  But  let  the 
power  of  the  magistrate,  the  authority  of  public 
opinion,  and  the  partialities  of  those  concerned,  be 
once  leagued  in  opposition,  and  the  imposture  cannot 
escape.  Such  was  the  league  against  the  miracles 
in  question.  Never  was  the  power  of  the  state  in 
more  perfect  alliance  with  public  opinion,  or  more 
zealously  supported  by  all  the  envy,  hatred,  and 
malice  of  which  popular  feeling  is  capable,  than  when 
it  set  its  face  against  the  gospel.  Not  only  were  these 
miracles  exposed  by  their  great  publicity  to  univer- 
sal examination,  but  they  were  of  such  a  nature  that 
any  mind  was  capable  of  examining  them.  Not  only 
did  they  present  themselves  to  the  wise  and  the  great, 
in  the  chief  places  of  concourse,  and  in  the  great 
cities  of  the  world,  but  they  were  such  as  necessarily 
provoked  every  description  of  scrutiny.  Being  per- 
formed in  avowed  support  of  a  religion  which  could 
not    be    successful    without    destroying   the    whole 


214  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

hierarchy  of  the  Jews,  and  advancing  its  victories 
over  the  ruins  of  heathenism,  they  roused  at  once 
into  united  and  stern  opposition  all  the  civil  power  of 
the  governments,  all  the  enmity  of  Jewish  and  pagan 
priesthoods,  all  the  partialities  and  prejudices  and 
national  attachments  of  all  people.  The  enmity  of 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  of  the  doctors  and  lawyers 
and  priests,  of  the  Jews,  must  have  been  fired  with 
peculiar  indignation.  As  miracles  multiplied  and 
disciples  increased,  the  deepest  interest  must  have 
been  awakened  in  relation  to  them  among  all  classes 
of  society.  This  we  know  to  have  been  the  case. 
Hence,  it  is  certain  that  they  did  not  escape  the  most 
thorough  examination ;  that  all  the  ingenuity  and 
diligence  of  contemporaries  and  eye-witnesses,  ani- 
mated by  the  strongest  motives,  and  favored  by  every 
conceivable  advantage,  were  enlisted  in  the  trial ; 
and  this  not  for  a  day  or  a  week  or  a  month,  but  as 
long  as  miracles  were  professed  and  a  hope  of  detec- 
tion remained. 

9.  It  is  a  matter  deserving  of  special  remem- 
brance, that  the  adversaries  of  the  gospel  were  placed 
in  the  most  favorable  circumstances  for  a  thorough 
investigation  of  the  reality  of  its  miracles,  by  their 
being  published  and  appealed  to  immediately  after ^ 
and  in  the  very  places  where  they  occurred.  The 
miracles  ascribed  to  the  founder  of  the  society  of 
Jesuits  are  sufficiently  answered  by  the  fact,  that 
during  his  life,  and  for  many  years  after  his  death, 
nothing  was  heard  of  them.  Those  of  Francis  Xavier, 
one  of  the  first  disciples  of  Loyola,  are  deficient  in 


MIRACLES.  215 

evidence,  because  having  been  wrought,  it  is  stated, 
in  the  far  distant  East,  they  were  first  published  in 
the  western  world ;  and  the  narratives,  if  they  ever 
reached  the  places  to  which  they  relate,  could  not 
have  been  known  there  till  long  after  the  opportunity 
of  a  close  investigation  had  passed  away,  and  must 
have  been  published  among  a  people  too  indifferent  to 
be  at  the  pains  of  inquiring  into  their  truth  or  false- 
hood. But  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  were  published 
immediately  after,  and  in  the  very  places  of  their 
occurrence.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  earliest  gos- 
pel, that  of  St.  Matthew,  is  not  by  any  supposed  fo 
have  been  published  earlier  than  the  seventh  or  eighth 
year  after  the  death  of  Christ.  Supposing  this  U 
have  been  the  first  publication  of  the  miracles,  it  was 
sufficiently  near  their  date  to  afford  every  reasonable 
opportunity  of  investigation. 

But  we  know  from  the  gospel  history,  that  during 
the  three  years  of  the  Saviour's  ministry,  and  all  the 
while  the  apostles  labored,  their  miracles  were  noto- 
rious. The  scribes  and  Pharisees  met  in  council  on 
the  subject.  Many,  unable  to  deny  them,  ascribed 
them  to  demoniacal  power.  Herod,  when  he  heard 
of  them,  said,  ^'  This  is  John  the  Baptist ;  he  is  risen 
from  the  dead ;  and  therefore  mighty  works  do  show 
forth  themselves  in  him."*  The  fame  of  the  miracles 
of  Jesus,  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  "  went 
throughout  all  Syria ;"  so  that  multitudes,  with  all 
kinds  of  afflictions,  flocked  to  him  from  all  quarters 
to  be  healed,  and  when  healed,  returned  to  publish 
*  Matt.  14:2. 


216  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

still  more  widely  the  works  of  their  deliverer.*  The 
rising  of  Lazarus  was  so  widely  published  in  Bethany, 
where  it  took  place,  and  in  the  region  round  about, 
that  in  a  few  days  "  much  people  of  the  Jews  came, 
not  for  Jesus'  sake  only,  but  that  they  might  see 
Lazarus  also,  whom  he  had  raised  from  the  dead."^ 
When,  at  the  word  of  Peter  and  John,  the  impotent 
man  at  the  gate  of  the  temple  had  been  made  whole, 
they  immediately  published  the  miracle  on  the  spot 
to  the  multitude  of  Jerusalem,  appealing  to  it  in 
evidence  of  the  power  of  their  Lord.  "  His  name, 
through  faith  in  his  name,  hath  made  this  man 
strong,  whom  ye  see  and  know ;  yea,  the  faith 
which  is  by  him  hath  given  him  this  perfect  sound- 
ness in  the  presence  of  you  all."*  Only  about  fifty 
days  was  Jesus  risen  from  the  dead  when  his  dis- 
ciples began  to  proclaim  everywhere,  and  first  at 
Jerusalem,  among  those  who  slew  him  and  had  set 
the  guard  at  the  sepulchre,  this  greatest  of  miracles. 
They  appealed  to  it  in  every  discourse,  challenged 
every  examination,  defied  all  contradiction.  All  the 
miracles  of  Christ  they  declared  before  the  very 
people  whom  they  asserted  to  have  witnessed  them. 
*'  Ye  men  of  Israel,  hear  these  words,"  said  Peter ; 
"  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  approved  of  God  among 
you  by  miracles  and  wonders  and  signs,  which  God 
did  by  him  in  the  midst  of  you,  as  ye  yourselves  also 
know."*  How  eminently  this  bold  and  immediate 
publication  must  have  aided  as  well  as  stimulated 

•  Matt.  4 :  23-25.  t  John  12:9. 

t  Acts  3:  16.  *  Acts  2:  22. 


MIRACLES.  217 

the  investigation  of  the  enemies  of  the  gospel,  fur- 
nishing those  who  had  every  disposition,  and  all 
power,  and  all  intelligence  and  cunning,  with  every 
opportunity  to  try  the  minutest  circumstance,  and 
ferret  out  every  clue  to  the  detection  of  imposture,  I 
need  not  show. 

10.  Now,  consider  ivho  the  ageyits  were,  whose 
works  were  obliged  to  stand  such  trials.  Had  they 
been  men  of  learning,  of  power,  of  wealth,  accustomed 
to  any  thing  that  was  calculated  to  furnish  them  for 
the  work  of  imposing  upon  mankind,  the  case  would 
not  be  quite  so  strong.  But  on  the  supposition  that 
Christ  was  a  mere  man  and  pretender,  what  was  he, 
or  what  were  his  apostles,  by  education  or  standing 
in  society,  that  they  should  be  qualified  for  such  an 
unparalleled  effort  of  ingenuity  and  concealment  ?  Is 
there  any  miracle  more  marvellous  than  that  which 
is  involved  in  the  idea  of  a  poor  and,  humanly  speak- 
ing, unlearned  individual  of  Nazareth,  followed  by 
twelve  obscure,  unlettered  Jews,  for  the  most  part 
accustomed  to  nothing  but  their  nets  and  fishing- 
boats,  having  practised  such  a  system  of  imposture, 
under  such  circumstances  of  risk  and  exposure,  with- 
out an  individual  among  their  numerous  enemies  being 
able  to  discover  their  secret,  or  detect  the  deceit  ? 

11.  Consider,  moreover,  that  notwithstanding  all 
that  was  done  to  entice  and  intimidate  the  early 
Christians  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  what  Jesus  or 
his  apostles  wrought,  none  loere  induced  to  confess 
themselves  deceived,  or  that  they  had  seen  any 
thing  hut  truth  in  those  miraculous  gifts  by  which 

EvidencM.  10 


218  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

they  had  been  persuaded  to  embrace  the  gospel.  It 
is  not  asserted  that  none  who  professed  to  be  con- 
verted from  Judaism  or  paganism  to  Christianity,  ever 
renounced  the  profession  of  Christianity.  The  perse- 
cution of  enemies  was  sometimes  successful  in  forc- 
ing their  victims  to  forsake  the  gospel,  and  do  sacri- 
fice to  idols,  rather  than  "be  burned  at  the  stake  or 
thrown  to  wild  beasts.  But  the  case  cannot  be 
brought  of  one  such  unhappy  deserter,  whether  man 
or  woman,  having  been  persuaded  to  bear  witness 
against  the  Christian  miracles.  A  convert,  after 
having  united  himself  to  the  apostles,  been  received  to 
the  fellowship  of  the  church,  and  become  an  agent 
in  advancing  its  cause,  must  have  become  acquainted 
with  its  secrets.  He  must  have  often  looked  behind 
the  scenes,  and  had  many  opportunities  of  knowing 
the  hidden  machinery  by  which  the  imposition,  if  any 
existed,  was  carried  on.  Had  the  evidence  of  con- 
trivance and  forgery  been  ever  seen  by  the  primitive 
Christians,  those  who  deserted  the  cause  had  every 
motive  to  divulge  it.  Their  own  indignation  at  hav- 
ing been  deceived,  the  rewards  which  they  might 
have  expected  from  the  enemies  of  Christianity, 
would  have  been  sufficiently  persuasive.  That  none 
ever  went  a  step  further  than  simply  to  give  up  the 
profession  of  the  gospel,  through  fear  of  torture  ;  that 
none  ever  turned  round  upon  the  apostles  by  whoso 
miracles  they  had  been  convinced,  and  charged  them 
with  fraud,  is  absolutely  inexplicable  on  any  other 
supposition  than  their  thorough  conviction  that  fraud 
did  not  exist. 


MIRACLES.  219 

This  evidence  is  especially  strong  in  the  case  of 
Judas  Iscariot.  He  was  one  of  the  twelve  who 
always  companied  with  Jesus.  He  was  the  treasurer 
of  the  family — admitted  to  every  opportunity  of  know- 
ing whatever  secrets  may  have  belonged  to  the  works 
of  Christ.  That  he  knew  what  and  where  the  impo- 
sition  was,  if  any  existed  in  the  gospel  miracles, 
cannot  be  doubted.  That  he  was  treacherous  enough 
to  betray  it,  is  manifest  from  his  having  betrayed 
the  Master  himself.  That  he  had  every  inducement 
to  do  so,  none  can  question  who  knows  how  precious 
the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  would  have  considered 
such  a  disclosure.  Did  he  come  forward  with  any 
such  thing?  He  delivers  up  the  person  of  Christ; 
does  he  accuse  his  character?  deny  his  works? 
expose  his  cause?  The  Saviour  is  arraigned  before 
his  powerful  enemies — witnesses  are  called.  "Where 
is  Judas?  False  witnesses  are  brought.  Where  is 
Judas  ?  Has  he  nothing  to  say  against  him  whom 
he  has  already  sold  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver  ?  The 
enemies  of  Christ  could  not  be  ignorant  of  the  impor- 
tance of  such  a  witness  ;  nor  could  he  be  ignorant  of 
the  gain  that  would  accrue  from  his  delivering  such 
testimony.  But  he  was  not  there.  The  Jews  never 
pretended  to  have  obtained  any  accusation  from  that 
traitor.  Not  a  word  is  spoken,  in  all  the  controversy 
with  primitive  adversaries,  about  the  treachery  of 
Judas  as  having  turned  to  their  advantage.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  written  in  the  gospel  history,  and  was 
never  denied  by  those  men,  that  he  not  only  ab- 
stained from   any  accusation,  but  in  the  strongest 


220  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

possible  manner  confessed  the  truth  and  excellence 
of  Jesus  and  his  cause.  Under  the  stings  of  con- 
science, and  in  spite  of  the  covctousness  of  his  dispo- 
sition, he  went  and  delivered  up  the  money  he  had 
received  for  his  iniquity  into  the  hands  of  those  who 
had  paid  it.  Nor  was  this  all.  He  was  constrained 
to  confess  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders,  whose  wrath 
he  knew  it  would  inflame  to  the  uttermost,  saying, 
"  I  have  sinned  in  that  I  have  betrayed  the  innocent 
blood.  And  he  cast  down  the  pieces  of  silver  in  the 
temple,  and  departed,  and  went  and  hanged  himself."* 
Stronger  evidence  of  truth  and  righteousness,  it  is 
impossible  for  any  works  or  any  cause  to  possess. 

12.  Having  considered  in  another  place  the  char- 
acter of  the  individuals  by  whom  the  miracles  of  the 
gospel  were  performed,  it  is  important  now  to  remark 
the  character  of  the  miracles  themselves.  Either 
they  were  real  miracles,  or  false.  If  false,  the  indi- 
viduals who  performed  them  could  not,  by  any  excess 
of  infatuation,  have  supposed  them  true.  They  must, 
therefore,  have  been  the  deliberate  asserters  of  a 
divine  commission,  which  they  knew  had  not  been 
given  them,  and  the  persevering  exhibiters  of  creden- 
tials which  they  knew  were  forgeries.  Hence,  it  is 
not  possible  that  they  could  have  been  honest  men ; 
much  less,  good  men.  And  inasmuch  as  they  must 
have  acted  from  some  motive  and  with  some  object 
in  view,  and  we  cannot  suppose  that  such  impostors 
would  be  sacrificing  themselves  merely  out  of  a  be- 
nevolent disposition  to  promote  the  happiness  of  their 
*  Matt.  27  :  4,  5. 


MIRACLES.  221 

fellow-creatures  and  relieve  their  woes,  it  must  have 
been  some  object  of  ambition  or  of  gain  which  they 
were  pursuing.  We  do  not  pause  now  to  show  what 
perfect  idiots  they  must  have  been  to  select  such  a 
scheme  out  of  ambitious  or  pecuniary  motives.  But 
since,  on  the  supposition  that  their  works  were  ficti- 
tious, we  can  imagine  no  other,  the  question  arises. 
How  do  these  miracles  correspond  with  the  idea  that 
the  agents  were  impostors,  and  their  motives  ambi- 
tious or  covetous  ? 

Now  I  maintain,  that  considering  how  many  and 
various  are  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, in  what  various  circumstances  and  by  what 
various  agents  they  were  performed — not  for  a  month 
or  year  only,  but  many  years,  in  full  assemblages  of 
enemies — it  would  have  been  quite  miraculous,  sup- 
posing them  false,  had  they  been  in  every  instance 
garnished  with  a  concealment  so  perfect  that  nothing 
low,  or  mean,  or  undignified,  nothing  betraying  the 
spirit  of  designing,  ambitious,  or  covetous  men,  should 
ever  have  been  manifested.  Take  up  the  accounts 
of  any  confessedly  fictitious  miracles,  in  any  age  or 
country,  and  you  will  soon  detect  the  handwriting 
of  the  spirit  and  motives  that  produced  them.  But 
most  singularly,  contrary  to  all  experience  and  all 
law,  on  the  assumption  that  the  miracles  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles  were  fictitious,  you  discover  nothing 
in  them  but  what  is  entirely  worthy  of  the  majesty, 
holiness,  justice,  and  goodness  of  that  God  by  whose 
power  they  professed  to  be  wrought.  The  most  per- 
fect correspondence  appears  between  the  exalted  and 


222  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

holy  character  and  office  in  which  the  Saviour  and 
his  apostles  claimed  to  be  received,  and  the  works  by 
which  their  claim  was  sustained.  Propriety,  dignity, 
disinterestedness,  benevolence  of  the  loveliest  spirit, 
and  compassion  of  the  tenderest  sensibility,  distin- 
guished them.  Not  the  least  trace  is  marked  on  them 
of  any  ambitious  or  other  suspicious  motive.  Though 
the  Lord  Jesus  and  his  apostles  were  compassed 
about  with  reproachful  and  persecuting  enemies,  you 
discern  nothing  vindictive  or  resentful.  Though  al- 
ways in  personal  poverty,  "  despised  and  rejected  of 
men^'^  their  miracles  discover  notliing  ostentatious, 
nothing  to  gratify  curiosity,  no  anxiety  for  repute,  no 
aim  at  wealth  or  temporal  power.  While  feeding 
the  hungry  by  thousands,  Jesus  continued  in  poverty. 
While,  as  the  good  shepherd,  ever  following  the  lost 
sheep  through  suffering  and  want,  that  he  might  ad- 
minister to  their  necessities,  he  showed  no  sign  of  any 
care  for  himself.  Now,  if  Jesus  and  his  apostles  did 
not  work  miracles  in  truth— if  their  high  claims  were 
false,  and  they  consequently  were  prosecuting  a 
scheme  of  imposture  with  selfish  purposes,  either  of 
ambition  or  gain,  there  is  something  in  all  this  sin- 
gularly unaccountable — very  unlike  the  laws  of  na- 
ture— exceedingly  miraculous. 

13.  But  that  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  were  not 
fictitious,  but  genuine  and  undeniable,  we  have  the 
plainest  and  strongest  confession  from  the  primitive 
adversaries  of  Christ  and  his  cause.  In  the  first 
place,  we  have  a  very  conclusive  and  impressive  con- 
fession, though  silent,  from  the  whole  Jewish  nation 


MIRACLES.  223 

and  the  whole  gentile  world.  It  consists  in  this 
unquestionable  fact,  that  no  individual  among  them 
ever  detected,  or  was  supposed  to  have  detected,  an 
imposture.  You  are  to  remember  that  these  miracles 
were  addressed  to  the  senses,  performed  in  open  day- 
light, with  all  possible  publicity ;  that  they  were 
exceedingly  numerous  and  various,  wrought  by  many 
different  agents,  in  many  and  remote  countries,  before 
citizens  of  the  most  enlightened  cities,  and  in  the 
most  enlightened  age  of  the  Roman .  empire ;  that 
those  of  the  apostles  did  not  cease  until  nearly  sev- 
enty years  from  their  commencement,  during  all 
which  time  they  must  have  endured  the  very  closest 
scrutiny  thart  the  combined  forces  of  learning,  enmity, 
and  political  authority  could  institute.  You  are  to 
remember,  also,  what  kind  of  men  were  those  who 
performed  them,  and  that  the  accounts  of  them  which 
we  now  possess  were  published  far  and  wide  in  the 
very  places  where  the  works  were  done,  and  among 
the  very  people  who  are  said  to  have  witnessed  them. 
You  are  to  remember,  for  example,  the  miracle  of  the 
gift  of  tongues  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  in  Jerusalem ; 
how  it  was  published  abroad  in  Jerusalem  and  the 
whole  empire,  that  on  that  day  an  immense  multi- 
tude of  people  of  all  languages  were  amazed  at  hear- 
ing the  twelve  apostles,  who  were  well  known  as 
unlettered  Jews,  preaching  the  gospel  in  so  many 
different  languages;  that  all,  whether  Cretes,  Ara- 
bians, Mesopotamians,  or  of  any  other  name,  all 
heard  in  their  respective  tongues  the  wonderful  works 
of  God.     You  are  to  consider,  that  in  publishing  an 


224  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

account  of  this  astonishing  transaction,  as  was  done 
by  the  apostles  in  all  their  preaching,  and  a  few 
years  afterwards  by  Luke  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, an  open,  honest  appeal  was  made  to  all  the  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  who  had  been  assembled  on  that 
day  in  Jerusalem,  to  come  forth  and  deny  that  these 
things  did  then  and  there  occur.  Thus  was  every 
possible  facility  afforded  for  the  detection  of  impos- 
ture. Without  a  miracle  for  its  concealment  it  could 
not  have  escajjed.  Had  there  been  a  detection  with 
regard  to  but  one  of  all  the  miracles,  we  should  have 
heard  of  it.  Judea  and  Grreece  and  Rome  would 
have  rung  with  the  nejvs.  The  books  of  Jewish  and 
heathen  adversaries  would  have  reiterated  its  publi- 
cation in  illuminated  pages  and  golden  capitals.  All 
the  generations  of  succeeding  adversaries  would  have 
quoted  it  as  one  of  the  dearest  bequests  of  classic 
antiquity.  Is  there  any  such  thing?  I  sound  the 
inquiry  through  the  whole  region  of  Jewish  and 
Grecian  and  Roman  history,  and  I  hear  nothing  in 
answer  but  the  echo  of  my  own  voice,  "  Is  there  any 
such  thing?"  I  must  answer  it  myself.  There  is 
no  such  thing,  in  all  that  has  come  to  us  from  anti- 
quity, as  even  a  pretence  to  the  detection  of  imposture 
in  the  gospel  miracles. 

This  I  think  you  will  join  me  in  considering  a 
very  impressive  and  conclusive  confession,  though  a 
silent  one,  from  the  whole  Jewish  nation  and  gentile 
world,  to  the  undeniable  reality  of  the  miracles  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles.  It  is  all  the  evidence  we 
could  with  any  reason  expect  from  enemies.     When 


MIRACLES.  225 

Deists  bid  us  produce  the  testimony  of  enemies  as 
well  as  friends,  it  is  perfectly  unreasonable  to  require 
that  we  should  find  enemies,  in  those  days  of  bitter 
hostility  to  Christianity,  positively  acknowledging 
that  it  was  attested  by  miracles.  That  they  did  not 
deny  it,  that  Jews  and  Grentiles,  that  the  Mosaic  and 
the  Pagan  priesthoods,  that  the  Pharisees  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  the  philosophers  of  Corinth  and  Ephesus 
and  Rome  were  silent  on  this  head,  one  would  sup- 
pose, is  a  great  deal  to  get  from  such  adversaries. 

But  we  can  go  further.  Unreasonable  as  it  is  to 
demand  more  positive  testimony  from  enemies,  we 
can  meet  the  demand.  Having  in  a  previous  lecture 
ascertained  the  credibility  of  the  gospel  history,  we 
may  now  appeal  to  it  for  the  acknowledgment  of 
enemies.  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  assumed  the 
fact  that  the  multitudes  of  Israel,  to  whom  he  was 
speaking,  acknowledged  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  had 
approved  himself  among  them  by  ''  miracles,  and  won- 
ders, and  signs."*  "  This  man  doeth  many  miracles,"^ 
was  the  confession  of  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees, 
in  council,  relative  to  Jesus.  *'  What  shall  we  do  to 
these  men?"  said  the  Jewish  rulers  in  relation  to 
Peter  and  John.  **  For  that  indeed  a  notable  miracle 
hath  been  done  by  them  is  manifest  to  all  them  that 
dwell  in  Jerusalem,  and  we  cannot  deny  it."^  You 
know  that  the  only  way  of  escape  the  Jewish  rulers 
could  find,  while  they  could  not  deny  the  miracles, 
was  to  ascribe  them  to  magic,  or  the  power  of  demons. 
^^He  casteth  out  devils  by  Beelzebub."  But  we 
♦  Acts  2  :  22.  t  John  1 1  :  47.  t  Acts  4  16. 

10* 


226  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

have  similar  testimony  without  recourse  to  the  Scrip- 
tures. The  Jewish  rabbies,  in  the  Talmud,  acknow- 
ledge these  miracles,  and  pretend  that  they  were 
wrought  by  magic,  or  by  the  power  attendant  upon  a 
certain  use  of  the  name  Jehovah,  called  tetragram- 
maton^  which,  they  pretend,  Jesus  stole  out  of  the 
temple.*  But  we  have  positive  testimony  also  from 
heathens.  Celsus,  who  wrote  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  second  century,  not  only  allows  the  principal  facts 
of  the  gospel  history,  but  acknowledges  that  Christ 
wrought  miracles,  by  which  he  engaged  great  multi- 
tudes to  adhere  to  him  as  the  Messiah.  That  these 
miracles  were  really  performed,  so  far  from  denying, 
he  tries  to  account  for  by  ascribing  them  to  magic, 
wliich  he  says  Christ  learned  in  Egypt.^ 

Hierocles,  president  of  Bythinia,  and  a  persecutor 
of  Christians,  in  a  work  written  against  Christianity 
does  not  deny  the  miracles  of  Christ,  but  compares 
them  with  those  which  he  pretended  had  been  wrought 
a  long  time  before  by  one  ApoUonius  of  Tyanea,  a 
heathen ;  complaining  at  the  same  time  that  Chris- 
tians made  so  much  ado  about  the  works  of  Jesus  as 
to  worship  him  for  Grod.* 

Julian  the  emperor,  in  the  fourth  century,  ac- 

*  Quod  Christus  per  hoc  nomen  quoqiie  miracula  sua  edi- 
derit,  probavit  ante  multos  annos  Purchetus.  Eju^  tamen 
fabula)  illustrandsD  causa,  hoc  addo,  quod  apud  Talmudicos 
reperi.  Ut  Christus  in  ea  historia  refertur  descriptum  Shem- 
hamphorasch,  (id  est,  nomen  expositum,  quod  est  ipsum  nomen 
mn%)  inclusisse  in  discissam  cutem  pedis,  et  ex  templo  edux- 
isse,  ut  sic  per  ejus  vim  miracula  postmodum  ediderit.  Bux- 
torf. 

t  Lardner,  vol.  4,  p.  120-130.  t  Ibid.  4,  254. 


MIRACLES.  227 

knowledges  the  miracles  of  Christ,  and  contents  him- 
self with  trying  to  depreciate  their  importance.  "  Je- 
sus," he  says,  *^did  nothing  worthy  of  fame,  unless 
any  one  can  suppose  that  curing  the  lame  and  the 
blind,  and  exorcising  demons  in  the  villages  of  Beth- 
saida,  are  some  of  the  greatest  works."  He  acknow- 
ledges that  Jesus  had  a  sovereign  power  over  impure 
spirits,  and  that  he  walked  on  the  surface  of  the  deep.* 
Now,  it  is  a  matter  of  no  little  wonder,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  that  in  this  nineteenth  century  men  should 
be  so  sagacious  as  to  discover  that  Christ  and  his 
apostles  did  not  attest  their  claims  and  doctrines  with 
miraculous  powers,  when  learned,  sagacious,  and 
sufficiently  hostile  unbelievers  of  the  earliest  centu- 
ries of  Christianity,  having  opportunities  for  discover- 
ing the  state  of  the  case  such  as  none  in  modern 
times  can  pretend  to,  were  constrained  to  acknow- 
ledge precisely  the  contrary.  I  marvel  that  Celsus 
and  Porphyry,  and  Hierocles  and  Julian,  and  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  can  rest  in  their  graves,  when 
such  reflections  are  cast  upon  the  zeal  and  ability 
with  which  they  searched  for  imposture  in  the  works 
of  Christ! 

14.  But  we  have  even  better  testimony  than  that 
of  enemies.  Had  Celsus  found  himself  not  only  un- 
able to  deny  the  miracles  of  Christ,  but  persuaded,  by 
the  mere  force  of  their  truth,  to  renounce  heathenism, 
and  consecrate  his  life,  in  the  face  of  persecution  and 
death,  to  the  service  of  the  gospel,  would  not  his  tes- 
timony have  been  greatly  increased  in  importance? 
*  Lardner,  vol.  4,  pp.  332-342. 


228  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Would  not  the  very  fact  of  his  becoming  a  Christian, 
under  the  power  of  evidence,  be  tlie  consideration 
which,  instead  of  injuring  his  testimony  as  that  of  a 
friend,  would  have  given  it  peculiar  force  as  that  of  a 
friend  who  was  once  an  enemy  ?  Then  if  I  find  cases 
precisely  corresponding  with  this — if  I  present  you 
with  hundreds  and  thousands  of  such  cases,  and  tens 
of  thousands,  will  you  not  own  that  their  positive 
testimony  is  far  stronger  than  even  that  of  the  adver- 
saries whom  we  have  cited,  and  the  strongest  of 
which  in  the  nature  of  things  we  could  be  possessed  ? 
I  find  precisely  such  cases  in  the  apostles  of  Christ. 
They  are  regarded  as  interested  witnesses,  because 
they  were  friends.  But  what  made  them  friends? 
Were  they  not  men,  like  others  ?  Jews,  like  others  ? 
Consider  Paul,  once  a  fierce  persecutor  of  Chris- 
tians. What  made  him  a  friend  ?  Consider  the  three 
thousand  converted  from  bitter,  persecuting  Juda- 
ism to  the  faith  of  Christ  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
What  made  friends  and  disciples  of  them  ?  Was  it 
that  they  expected  any  earthly  honors  or  gains  from 
taking  up  the  cross  of  a  crucified  Master,  in  whose 
wonderful  works  they  did  not  believe  ?  Was  it  that 
they  coveted  reproach,  enjoyed  suffering,  and  loved 
death;  or  because,  by  careful  consideration,  they 
were  so  convinced  that  the  miracles  of  Christ,  espe- 
cially that  of  his  rising  from  the  dead,  were  true,  that 
no  certainty  of  persecution,  no  sacrifices  of  property, 
character,  friends,  or  life  were  sufficient  to  prevent 
them  from  confessing  him  before  men?  To  these 
add  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who,  during  the  min- 


MIRACLES.  229 

istry  of  the  apostles,  from  having  been  Jews  or  hea- 
thens, and  enemies  of  the  gospel,  became  its  devoted 
followers  and  heroic  confessors.  They  bore  witness, 
by  word  and  deed,  in  torture  and  death,  to  the  great 
fact  that  the  miracles  of  Christ  were  true.  And  what 
is  their  testimony  worth  ?  What  possible  motive  can 
you  assign  for  the  total  change  which  took  place  in 
all  their  habits,  attachments,  manners,  and  affections, 
when  they  became  Christians,  other  than  that  of  deep, 
solemn  conviction  ?  To  suppose  they  were  not  con- 
vinced, is  to  suppose  that  they  made  the  most  tre- 
mendous sacrifices  not  only  without  motive,  but  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  most  powerful  motives  of  the 
human  breast.  They  well  knew  the  poverty  and 
persecution  and  martyrdom  to  which  they  exposed 
themselves.  Why,  then,  did  they  become  Christians? 
When  afterwards  pursued  as  the  off-scouring  of  all 
things,  and  pests  of  the  world;  when  no  name  was 
so  odious  as  that  of  Christian;  when  to  bring  those 
who  bore  it  to  torture  was  universally  accounted  mer- 
itorious; when  it  was  the  study  of  magistrates  and 
soldiers  to  invent  new  modes  of  tormenting  them ; 
when  thousands  of  all  ranks  and  ages  were  daily  slain 
for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  who,  by  the  act  of  a  mo- 
ment, could  have  stilled  the  storm  to  perfect  peace, 
why  did  they  persist  and  die?  To  pretend  to  explain 
their  steadfastness,  except  on  the  supposition  of  their 
having  firmly  believed  what  they  professed,  were  per- 
fectly absurd.  But  did  they  not  know?  Living  in 
the  same  .age  with  the  apostles — living  in  the  very 
places  where  the  miracles  were  performed,  they,  if 


2a0  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

any  on  earth,  must  have  possessed  the  opportunity  of 
discovering  the  truth  with  regard  to  them.  We  have, 
then,  the  impressive  facts  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  the  adversaries  of  the  gospel,  in  the  first  century  of 
Christianity^  Jews  and  Grreeks  and  Romans,  many 
of  whom  had  been  persecutors  of  Christians,  bearing 
the  most  positive  testimony  to  what  they  had  every 
opportunity  of  investigating,  the  reality  of  the  mir- 
acles of  Christ;  and  sealing  their  testimony  by  re- 
nouncing all  that  was  dear  to  them  by  birth,  habit, 
or  education,  and  embracing  Christianity  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  keenest  reproach  and  the  most  painful 
death.  Testimony  stronger  or  more  undeniable  than 
this,  I  cannot  imagine.  If  this  be  not  sufficient  to 
prove  a  plain  matter  of  fact,  such,  for  example,  as 
that  Lazarus  was  seen  alive  after  he  was  known  to 
have  been  dead,  then  farewell  all  history  and  all  know- 
ledge. Nothing  can  be  reasonably  believed,  except 
on  evidence  of  sense,  and  hardly  then,  after  rejecting 
this. 

We  have  now  arrayed  as  many  of  the  materials 
of  the  argument  for  the  gospel  miracles  as  our  time 
would  permit.  It  only  remains  that  we  put  them 
together  into  one  view,  so  as  to  enable  you  to  appre- 
ciate their  united  strength.  I  know  not  how  to  do  this 
in  a  better  way,  than  to  take  the  supposition  that  all  the 
miracles  of  Christ  and  of  his  apostles  were  fictions,  and 
consequently  their  authors  deliberate  deceivers;  and 
then  consider  how  far  the  supposition  will  carry  us. 
Let  us  do  so.  You  understand  the  supposition.  What 
must  be  believed  by  one  who  will  maintain  it? 


MIRACLES.  231 

He  must  believe  that  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  being 
obscure,  unlettered  Jews,  without  a  single  circum- 
stance to  give  them  influence,  were  so  perfectly  silly 
and  mad  as  to  flatter  themselves  that  they  could  set 
up  a  scheme  of  religion,  which,  though  in  utter  con- 
tradiction to  the  habits,  passions,  prejudices,  and  in- 
stitutions of  all  ihe  world,  should  succeed  in  overturn- 
ing the  religious  systems  and  institutions  of  the  most 
enlightened  nations;  and  yet  that,  with  this  unac- 
countable infatuation,  they  were  so  singularly  wise 
as  to  maintain  throughout  all  the  miracles  which  they 
professed  to  work  in  proof  of  their  system,  the  most 
perfect  consistency  with  the  dignity  and  diginterest- 
edness  of  the  oiffice  they  assumed,  and  with  the  maj- 
esty, holiness,  and  goodness  of  that  God  in  whoso 
name  they  professed  to  come. 

He  must  believe  that  Jesus  and  his  apostles  were 
60  wicked  as  to  attempt  an  imposture  which  involved 
not  only  continual  dishonesty,  but  downright  blas- 
phemy, and  this  from  motives  of  mere  ambition  or 
avarice;  and  yet,  that  during  the  space  of  seventy 
years  they  kept  up  such  an  invariable  show  of  emi- 
nent goodness  and  disinterestedness,  as  in  all  their 
works  to  manifest  not  the  smallest  appearance  of  self- 
ishness or  any  evil  design;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the 
utmost  evidence  of  self-denial,  of  self-humiliation,  of 
purity,  of  holiness,  of  the  tenderest  compassion,  and 
the  most  laborious  benevolence,  so  that  even  their 
enemies  never  brought  inconsistency  to  their  charge. 

He  must  believe  the  apostles  to  have  been  so 
strangely  in  love,  either  with  wealth,  or  honor,  or 


232  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

power,  or  something  else,  as  to  be  willing  even  out  of 
their  obscurity  and  weakness  to  seek  it  by  such  a 
desperate  scheme  as  that  of  Christianity,  and  yet 
that,  when  honors  were  offered,  they  earnestly  refused 
them ;  when  they  saw  the  triumph  of  their  enemies 
in  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  and  that  nothing  awaited 
his  followers  but  disgrace,  poverty,  and  persecution, 
they  persisted  in  advocating  the  cause  of  their  fallen 
leader ;  and  when  the  storms  of  persecution  grew 
darker  and  darker,  and  ruin  and  death  were  the  cer- 
tain consequences  of  perseverance,  and  one  word  of 
confession  would  have  saved  them,  such  was  their 
infatuated  attachment  to  this  scheme  of  imposture, 
such  their  singular  devotion  to  self,  to  honor,  or 
wealth,  or  power,  or  something  else,  that  they  drove 
on  from  suffering  to  suffering,  from  shame  to  shame, 
ending  at  last  their  pursuit  in  a  bitter  death,  with  the 
full  belief,  as  Jews,  that  in  eternity  they  should  be 
condemned  to  an  awful  retribution  for  their  whole 
career. 

He  must  believe,  that  while  the  apostles  were  so 
utterly  destitute  of  common  ingenuity  that  they  se- 
lected precisely  that  kind  of  credential  which  it  was 
the  most  difficult  to  forge,  and  instead  of  seeking,  as 
other  impostors  would  have  done,  private  or  confined 
or  solitary  places  for  their  miracles,  chose  those  of  the 
greatest  resort  and  publicity,  and  then  placed  and 
left  their  miracles  directly  under  the  senses  of  the 
multitude ;  that  while  they  had  so  little  contrivance, 
that  instead  of  selecting  a  few  masked  friends,  or  the 
most  ignorant  of  the  populace  for  witnesses,   they 


MIRACLES.  233 

seemed  rather  to  prefer  having  hardly  any  witnesses 
but  enemies,  and  those  frequently  of  the  highest, 
most  literary,  and  powerful  classes ;  that  while  so 
utterly  wanting  in  the  common  cunning  of  impostors, 
that  instead  of  keeping  their  doings  to  one  or  a  few 
places,  they  performed  them  anywhere,  upon  any 
subjects,  however  suddenly  or  confusedly  presented, 
and  instead  of  ceasing  when  they  had  done  a  few 
with  success,  continued  the  hazard  for  many  years, 
in  innumerable  instances,  and  while  they  were  widely 
separated  from  one  another — I  say  it  must  be  believed, 
that  Christ  and  his  apostles,  with  all  these  evidences 
of  extraordinary  idiocy  or  lunacy,  were  yet  so  won- 
derfully ingenious,  wary,  and  wise,  so  singularly 
skilled  in  imposture,  so  learned  in  human  nature  and 
the  world,  such  a  marvellous  match  for  the  combined 
efforts  of  the  wise  and  mighty  and  diligent  of  Judea 
and  Greece  and  Rome,  laid  their  plans  so  deeply, 
concerted  their  movements  so  skilfully,  kept  their 
secrets  so  closely,  carried  on  the  whole  complicated 
plot  for  many  years  so  consistently,  that  though  ever 
watched  while  together  and  while  separated,  and  con- 
tinually scrutinized  by  all  sorts  of  witnesses  and  of 
enemies,  none  could  ever  detect  the  least  flaw  in 
their  pretensions — none  could  discover  that  the  blind 
did  not  see,  that  the  lame  did  not  walk,  that  the 
dead  did  not  rise.  On  the  contrary,  the  people  of| 
Bethany  were  so  deceived  as  actually  to  believe  that 
they  daily  saw  one  of  their  townsmen,  whom  they 
knew  to  have  died,  living  and  eating  among  them. 
Wie  people  of  Jerusalem  were  so  deceived  as  to  be- 


234  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

lieve  that  they  saw  a  man  whom  they  knew  to  have 
been  lame  from  his  birth,  daily  walking  among  them 
perfectly  well.  The  five  thousand  were  fully  per- 
suaded that  they  did  all  eat  and  were  filled  with  a 
few  loaves  and  fishes.  The  people  of  Syria  were  so 
tricked  as  really  to  believe  that  their  multitudes  of 
sick  with  divers  diseases  and  torments,  whom  they 
had  brought  to  Jesus,  went  home  with  them  perfectly 
well,  without  an  exception.  Yea,  the  whole  Jewish 
and  heathen  world  was  so  imposed  upon  by  these 
unlettered,  simple,  despised,  persecuted  Jews,  as 
tacitly  to  confess  the  genuineness  of  their  miracles. 
Philosophers  and  rabbies,  when  they  attacked  Chris- 
tianity, did  not  deny  it ;  several  of  them  positively  in 
their  books  acknowledged  it;  and  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands in  the  age  of  the  apostles,  out  of  the  most  polished 
cities  and  most  respectable  classes,  were  so  entirely 
taken  captive  and  spellbound  by  the  magic  scheme 
of  these  weak  men,  that  they  forsook  all,  and  took 
joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  and  yielded  them- 
selves to  fire  and  sword  and  wild  beasts,  rather  than 
not  confess  and  follow  Christ. 

Such  are  the  wonderful  things,  such  the  violations 
of  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  common-sense,  such  the 
wicked  and  contradictory  miracles,  which  necessarily 
follow  as  true,  as  soon  as  the  miracles  of  Christianity 
are  rejected  as  false.  Now,  tell  me  on  which  side 
the  charge  of  credulity  lies  with  the  greatest  weight. 
Now,  give  the  reason  why  our  modern  unbelievers, 
instead  of  meeting  the  testimony  of  the  gospel  mir- 
acles in  front,  are  so  conscientiously  scrupulous  never 


MIRACLES.  235 

to  know  any  thing  about  it,  and  always  expend  their 
ingenuity  in  ridiculing  the  dignity,  or  in  picking  out 
what  they  would  represent  as  the  inconsistencies  of 
Scripture.  Now  explain  the  singular  phenomenon 
that  the  grand  high-priest  of  modern  infidelity  should 
have  invented  the  convenient  principle  which  scep- 
tical philosophy  had  ever  before  so  painfully  sighed 
after,  that  no  testimony  can  prove  a  miracle.  Ah, 
yes.  It  was  his  only  hope.  The  testimony  of  the 
Christian  miracles  is  perfect.  It  is  so  overwhelming, 
that  if  there  be  any  difficulty  about  their  miraculous 
character,  it  arises  from  the  very  brightness  of  their 
evidence  itself.  It  is  almost  inconceivable  that  such 
works,  wrought  so  publicly  and  frequently,  and  with 
such  incontrovertible  marks  of  a  divine  hand,  should 
not  have  made  more  converts — ^that  all  who  beheld 
them  did  not  yield  at  once  to  the  great  Teacher  whom 
they  attested,  and  espouse  his  cause.  But  the  ex- 
planation is  not  difficult.  The  human  heart  is  de- 
praved enough  for  the  most  desperate  rejection  of  such 
a  master  as  the  Lord  Jesus.  Men  will  go  to  the 
greatest  lengths  of  folly  and  unbelief  to  gratify  their 
passions,  foster  their  pride,  retain  their  prejudices, 
and  escape  the  necessity  of  making  sacrifices  for  con- 
science' sake.  The  truth  that  so  many  Jews  and 
heathens,  with  this  blaze  of  testimony  before  them, 
did  not  submit  to  the  gospel,  is  not  so  astonishing  as 
what  is  seen  every  day  among  ourselves :  persons 
believing  the  New  Testament,  and  that  Christ  is  the 
only  Saviour  of  sinners — that  eternal  blessedness 
awaits  those  who  follow  him,  and  eternal  woe  those 


236  ■  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

who  neglect  his  salvation,  and  yet,  for  all  practical 
ends,  as  unmoved  by  these  truths  as  if  they  were 
fables — as  little  engaged  in  the  service  of  Christ  as  if 
they  had  never  heard  his  name. 

But  we  must  conclude.  I  trust  you  will  hence- 
forth allow  me  to  consider  the  miracles  of  the  gospel 
as  proved  to  be  genuine.  If  so,  we  must  consider  the 
credentials  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  as  acknowledged. 
They  were  therefore  what  they  professed  to  be,  di- 
vinely commissioned  and  inspired  teachers.  Grod  was 
with  them.  What  they  published  as  a  revelation 
from  God,  we  are  consequently  bound  to  receive  as  a 
revelation  from  God.  That  publication  is  contained 
in  the  New  Testament.  We  have  already  ascertained 
the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. We  now  cease,  therefore,  with  the  conclusion 
that  the  religion  published  in  the  New  Testament  is 
a  revelation  from  God. 

May  the  greatest  and  best  of  all  the  works  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  be  wrought  in  all  of  us,  even  the  blessed 
work  of  his  grace,  awakening  the  sinner  from  spirit- 
ual death;  changing,  exalting,  purifying  all  the  af- 
fections of  his  depraved  nature ;  opening  the  eyes  of 
his  understanding  to  behold  the  glory  of  God ;  leading 
him  in  repentance  and  faith  to  the  cross,  for  pardon 
and  peace ;  shedding  abroad  in  his  heart  the  spirit  of 
divine  love,  and  causing  him  to  rejoice  in  the  bless- 
ed assurance  of  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not 
away. 


PROPHECY.  237 


LECTURE    VII. 

PROPHECY. 

Having  shown  the  genuineness  of  the  miracles 
recorded  in  the  New  Testament  in  attestation  of  the 
divine  mission  of  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles,  we  are 
now  to  take  up  the  subject  of  prophecy.  But  while 
proceeding  to  this  additional  source  of  evidence,  it  is 
important  to  be  observed  that  we  do  so,  not  be- 
cause we  consider  the  reasoning  in  proof  of  Chris- 
tianity as  a  divine  revelation,  to  which  you  have  al- 
ready listened,  in  any  sense  incomplete.  Had  our 
course  of  lectures  been  terminated  with  the  last,  the 
argument  would  have  been  brought  to  an  incontro- 
vertible issue.  Having  made  out  the  great  point, 
that  genuine  miracles  were  wrought  by  the  Saviour 
and  his  apostles  in  attestation  of  the  divine  authority 
of  what  they  did  and  taught,  we  have  established,  by 
necessary  consequence,  the  great  truth  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  a  teacher  come  from  Grod,  and  that  the 
New  Testament,  as  an  authentic  publication  of  the 
religion  taught  by  him,  is  to  be  received  as  contain- 
ing a  divine  revelation  of  truth  and  duty.  One  line 
of  evidence  therefore,  one  road  leading  to  the  Scrip- 
tures as  the  great  central  fountain  of  divine  truth,  we 
have  travelled  over,  and  it  has  set  us  down  beside 
the  water  of  life.  Now,  if  this  were  the  only  road,  it 
would  be  amply  sufficient.     The  loftiest  intellect  need 


238  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

not  be  ashamed — the  weakest  need  not  fear  to  walk 
therein.*  But  God  has  not  only  furnished  us  with 
the  plainest,  but  with  the  most  various  and  abundant 
evidence.  And  since  the  object  of  these  lectures  is, 
not  only  to  prove  the  divine  authority  of  the  gospel, 
but  also  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  diversified  char- 
acter of  the  many  ways  by  which  the  proof  may  be 
established,  we  propose  now  to  return  from  the  posi- 
tion we  have  reached  by  the  argument  of  our  last 
lecture,  and  endeavor  to  arrive  at  it  again  by  a  route 
entirely  different.  We  take  up  the  prophecies  re- 
corded in  the  Scriptures,  and  shall  endeavor  to  pro- 
duce from  them  satisfactory  and  impressive  evidence 
that  in  the  Bible  we  have  divine  inspiration,  and  in 
Jesus  Christ  a  teacher  sent  of  God. 

What  is  a  prophecy^  according  to  the  sense  of 
Scripture,  and  as  we  are  now  about  to  consider  it? 
It  is  a  declaration  of  future  events,  such  as  no  human 
wisdom  or  forecast  is  sufficient  to  make — depending 
on  a  knowledge  of  the  innumerable  contingencies  of 
human  affairs,  which  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
omniscience  of  God;  so  that  from  its  very  nature, 
prophecy  must  be  divine  revelation.     *^  The  prophecy 

*  A  celebrated  infidel  once  acknowledged  that  even  Athe- 
ism would  be  refuted  by  the  proof  of  a  single  miracle  of  the 
gospel.  Spinoza  declared  that  he  would  have  broken  his 
atheistic  system  to  pieces,  and  embraced  without  repugnance 
the  ordinary  faith  of  Christians,  could  he  have  been  persuaded 
of  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead.  Was  it  not  a 
foresight  of  the  inferences  that  would  necessarily  result  from 
the  proof  of  this  miracle,  that  prevented  him  from  being  per- 
suaded of  its  truth  ? 


PROPHECY.  239 

came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man,  but  holy 
men  of  God  spoke  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost."  J 

A  prophecy,  considered  in  itself,  separately  from 
its  fulfilment,  is  no  evidence  of  revelation.  But  as 
soon  as  fulfilled,  it  is  complete.  The  hand  of  God  is 
then  attested.  The  evidence  that  the  person  by 
whom  it  was  uttered  was  under  the  influence  of  di- 
vine omniscience,  is  finished.  Then  prophecy  takes 
the  place  of  miracle,  and  becomes  at  once  one  of  the 
highest  and  most  unquestionable  proofs,  not  only  that 
the  individual  who  declared  it  was  the  agent  of  com- 
municating, in  that  particular,  a  divine  revelation, 
but  also  that  a  divine  sanction  is  impressed  upon  that 
whole  system  of  religion  with  which  his  prophecies 
may  be  connected.*  '*  Future  contingencies,  such, 
for  example,  as  those  which  relate  to  the  rise  and  fall 
of  nations  and  states  not  yet  in  existence,  or  to  the 
minute  concerns  of  individuals  not  yet  born,  are  se- 
crets which  it  is  evident  no  man  or  angel  can  pene- 
trate, their  causes  being  indeterminate,  their  relations 
with  other  things  fluctuating  and  unknown.  It  fol- 
lows therefore,  that  the  prediction  of  such  contingent 
events  Cannot  otherwise  than  proceed  from  God ;  and 
further,  since  God  cannot  without  a  violation  of  his 
perfect  holiness  and  rectitude  visibly  aid  delusion  and 
wickedness,  the  inference  is  equally  cogent  and  nec- 
essary, that  the  accomplishment  of  predictions  deliv- 

*  *' All  prophecies,"  says  Hume,  "arc  real  miracles,  and  as 
such  only,  can  be  admitted  as  proofs  of  any  revelation."  Phil- 
osophical Essays. 


240  M'lLVAINE^S  EVIDENCES. 

ered  by  those  who  profess  divine  authority  amounts 
to  a  full  proof  that  they  really  possess  the  authority 
they  assume.  Other  arguments  may  be  evaded — 
other  evidence  may  not  convince.  Strange  effects, 
though  not  miraculous  ones,  may  be  produced  by 
other  than  divine  power."*  But  this  can  only  be 
evaded  by  refusing  to  behold  it,  and  only  counterfeited 
by  him  who  is  ingenious  enough  to  borrow  omniscience 
in  aid  of  imposture.  ^*  To  declare  a  thing  shall  come 
to  be,  long  before  it  is  in  being,"  says  Justin  Martyr, 
**and  then  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment  of  that 
very  thing  according  to  the  same  declaration,  this, 
or  nothing,  is  the  work  of  God." 

There  are  considerations  connected  with  this  par- 
ticular source  of  evidence,  which  render  it  specially 
interesting  and  valuable. 

Prophecy  furnishes  an  argument,  the  force  of 
which  is  continually  growing.  The  argument  be- 
gan when  first  a  single  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  It 
increased  more  and  more,  as  predictions  and  fulfil- 
ments multiplied.  In  the  age  of  the  apostles,  it  was 
a  powerful  as  well  as  favorite  weapon  in  proof  of  the 
gospel.  But  during  that  period  many  new  predic- 
tions were  published,  and  many  ancient  ones  remained 
to  be  accomplished.  The  argument  consequently  was 
not  yet  at  its  height.  It  has  been  growing  ever  since, 
as  one  century  after  another  has  exhibited  an  ad- 
ditional fulfilment,  or  completed  and  enlarged  those 
already  advanced.  "We,  in  the  present  age,  enjoy  an 
expanse  and  variety  and  completeness  of  prophetic 
*  Gregory's  Letters. 


PROPHECY.  241 

evidence  far  exceeding  those  which  the  chart  of  his- 
tory .presented  to  St.  Paul.  There  is  to  us  a  voice 
from  the  silent  solitudes  where  Babylon  and  Tyre 
once  stood  in  pride  and  reigned  in  power ;  from  the 
modern  history  of  the  prostrate  Egypt;  from  the  won- 
derful annals  and  present  condition  of  the  Jewish 
race;  from  the  desolate  state  of  the  Holy  Land  and 
adjoining  countries;  from  the  rise  and  present  aspect 
of  the  mystic  Babylon — which  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians had  not  the  privilege  of  hearing.  The  force  of 
this  argument  is  yet  to  grow  more  and  more  until  the 
consummation  of  all  things.  A  few  years  hence,  in 
all  probability,  will  exhibit  it  invented  with  a  bright- 
ness and  glory,  compared  with  which  all  present  evi- 
dence will  seem  but  as  morning  twilight.  At  the 
end  of  the  world  will  be  its  full  maturity.  Prophecy 
having  begun  with  the  history  of  sin,  extends  to  the 
completion  of  its  tragedy ;  and  not  till  the  blazing  of 
the  great  conflagration  when  "the  earth  and  all  that 
is  therein  shall  be  burned  up,"  will  its  every  predic- 
tion be  fulfilled,  or  the  fulness  of  glory  with  which  it 
was  designed  to  show  the  truth  of  God  in  the  gospel 
of  his  Son,  be  made  to  appear. 

Now,  it  is  this  continual  growing  of  prophetic 
evidence  that  makes  it  so  peculiarly  valuable.  The 
argument  derived  from  miracles,  though  it  could 
never  have  been  more  conclusive  than  it  is  to  us,  was 
certainly  more  impressive  to  those  who  saw  the  mir- 
acles, or  who  lived  in  the  age  in  which  they  were 
wrought.  And  it  is  very  difficult  for  most  persons  to 
distinguish  between  the  conclusiveness  and  the  im- 

Evidences.  1 1 


242  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

pressiveness  of  evidence.  Because  the  lapse  of  cen- 
turies, by  removing  the  Christian  miracles  far  .from 
us,  has  diminished  the  sensible  effect  they  would 
otherwise  have  had  upon  our  minds,  it  is  very  gen- 
erally supposed  that  the  same  cause  has  enfeebled 
the  evidence  on  which  their  genuineness  is  main- 
tained. This  idea,  though  entirely  unfounded,  is 
too  natural,  to  those  whose  thoughts  reach  not  be- 
neath the  surface  of  such  subjects,  to  be  easily  re- 
moved. But  with  regard  to  the  evidence  -arising 
from  prophecy,  it  cannot  exist.  Predictions,  now  in 
progress  of  fulfilment,  are  miracles  which  centuries 
can  only  render  more  certain  and  impressive.  If 
there  was  a  peculiar  privilege  conferred  on  those  who 
saw  in  the  miracles  of  Christ,  manifest  to  sense,  the 
wonderful  works  of  God's  omnipotence^  there  is  also 
a  similar  privilege  conferred  on  us,  who,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  ever-increasing  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
may  see  in  the  Scriptures,  more  brilliantly  illuminated 
than  ever,  the  handwriting  of  God's  omniscience. 

There  is  another  peculiarity  in  much  of  the  evi- 
dence from  prophecy,  which  renders  it  peculiarly 
valuable.  It  is  evidence  before  our  eyes  addressed 
to  our  senses.  By  this  we  do  not  mean  that  the  evi- 
dence arising  from  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles  would  be  any  more  conclusive,  however 
much  it  would  be  increased  in  its  impression  on  our 
minds,  did  we  behold  the  miracles  instead  of  reading 
of  them  in  well-attested  history.  We  believe,  on  the 
contrary,  that  this  description  of  evidence,  as  ad- 
dressed to  us,  is  perfect.     But  still  there  is,  and  per- 


PROPHECY.  243 

haps  ever  will  be,  a  class  of  persons  who,  like  the 
disciple  Thomas,  will  require  to  see  before  they  will 
believe.  Either  their  indifference  or  sluggishness 
prevents  them  from  pursuing  a  line  of  argument  that 
would  carry  them  back  amidst  the  testimonies  of 
antiquity,  or  else  their  willing  scepticism,  by  in- 
genious sophistry,  would  shield  them  from  all  the 
evidence  derived  from  miraculous  agency,  by  the 
assumption  that  no  testimony  can  prove  a  miracle. 
The  utter  fallacy  of  this  position,  we  trust,  was  satis- 
factorily shown  in  a  preceding  lecture.  But  here  are 
evidences  with  which,  were  it  true,  it  could  have  no 
connection.  God,  in  his  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy, 
has  provided  for  all  classes  of  minds,  and  all  descrip- 
tions of  infidelity,  that  all  unbelievers  may  be  with- 
out excuse.  The  argument  from  prophecy  may  be 
rendered  brief  enough  for  the  most  sluggish,  tangible 
enough  for  the  most  obstinate  opposers  of  historical 
testimony.  They  have  only  to  read  in  the  Bible  the 
predictions  with  regard  to  the  once  proud  cities  of 
Babylon  and  Tyre,  or  the  once  powerful  empire  of 
Egypt,  and  then  to  open  their  ears  to  the  accounts 
which  almost  every  wind  conveys,  or  go  and  see  for 
themselves  the  obscure  remnants  of  the  ruins  of  those 
cities  and  of  that  once  mighty  empire  ;  they  have  only 
to  read  in  the  books  of  Moses  what,  thirty-three  hun- 
dred years  ago,  was  foretold  of  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  people,  and  then  to  lift  up  their  eyes  and 
behold  the  present  condition  and  the  notorious  peculi- 
arities of  that  wonderful  race,  to  see  that  the  proph- 
ecies of  the  Bible  have  been  plainly  and  most  par- 


244  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tioularly  fulfilled — fulfilled  in  a  manner  which  no 
human  sagacity  could  have  foreseen,  which  no  hu- 
man power  could  have  brought  to  pass,  and  conse- 
quently that  the  authors  of  these  prophecies  were 
inspired  men,  and  the  reUgion  they  taught  was  the 
word  of  God.  In  these  and  various  other  examples 
which  might  be  adduced,  of  the  present  and  visible 
fulfilment  of  prophecy,  the  miracles  of  the  Jewish 
and  Christian  dispensations  are  in  fact  continued 
among  us.  "  Men  are  sometimes  disposed  to  think 
that  if  they  could  see  a  miracle  wrought  in  their  own 
sight,  they  would  believe  the  gospel  without  delay, 
and  obey  it  unreservedly.  They  know  not  their  own 
hearts.  *  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
neither  will  they  be  persuaded  though  one  rose  from 
the  dead.'  But  in  the  whole  range  of  prophecy  now 
fulfilling  before  their  eyes,  they  have  in  fact  a  series 
of  divine  interpositions,  not  precisely  of  the  nature  of 
miracles,  in  the  sense  of  brief  and  instant  and  visible 
suspensions  of  the  laws  of  nature,  but  evidently  so  in 
the  sense  of  supernatural  interference :  in  the  rise 
and  fall  of  cities  and  nations  and  empires ;  in  the 
arrangement  of  times  and  circumstances ;  in  that 
wonderful  display  of  infinite  foreknowledge  and  in- 
finite power,  apparent  in  the  control  of  the  wills  of 
unnumbered  free  and  accountable  agents  to  a  certain 
result."* 

In  our  last  lecture  we  stated  that  the  religion  of 
the  Bible  is  the  only  one  which,  on  its  first  introduc- 
tion, appealed  to  miracles  in  evidence  of  the  divine 
*  Wilson's  Lectures. 


PROPHECY.  245 

authority  of  its  teachers.  We  make  a  similar  re- 
mark, with  still  more  evident  truth,  in  regard  to 
prophecy.  The  sublimity  of  men  professing  to  be 
the  commissioned  and  inspired  messengers  of  God, 
making  their  appeal  to  a  series  of  future  events  for  a 
thousand  years  as  the  sure  attestation  of  the  divine 
authority  of  their  embassy ;  the  moral  grandeur  of 
that  appeal,  which,  after  having  deposited  in  the 
hands  of  nations  a  prediction  of  minute  transactionss 
which  the  innumerable  contingencies  of  a  long  retinue 
of  centuries  are  to  bring  out,  stakes  its  whole  cause 
upon  a  perfect  fulfilment,  thus  resting  itself  singly 
upon  the  omniscience  and  omnipotence  of  God,  and 
separating  to  an  infinite  distance  all  possibility  of 
human  support — this  is  a  dignity  to  which  nothing  but 
the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  can  pretend,  a  noble 
daring  on  which  nothing  else  was  ever  known  to  ven- 
ture. The  corruptions  of  Christianity,  as  existing  in 
the  church  of  Rome,  have  attempted  to  prop  up  their 
feeble  foundations  on  the  credit  of  miracles,  easily  re- 
futed indeed,  but  widely  boasted  of.  But  prophecy, 
even  the  effrontery  of  that  "  man  of  sin,"  *'  whose  com- 
ing," saith  St.  Paul,  **  is  with  all  deceivableness  of 
unrighteousness,"  has  never  pretended  to.  Although 
Mohammed  did  not  profess  to  support  his  pretensions 
by  miracles,  and  the  Koran  expressly  concedes  that 
miraculous  power  was  not  given  him,  yet  his  fol- 
lowers, hundreds  of  years  after  his  death,  related 
many  miracles  as  having  been  performed  under  his 
hand.  But  that  Mohammed,  though  styled  the 
prophet  of  God,  ever  declared  a  prophecy^  on  the  ful- 


246  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

filment  of  which  he  rested  his  claims  to  inspiration, 
none  ever  asserted. 

The  history  of  pagan  nations  indeed  abounds 
with  stories  of  auguries  and  oracles  and  detached 
predictions ;  but  it  was  with  no  reference  to  the 
establishment  of  paganism  that  they  were  uttered. 
On  the  contrary,  the  fact  that  paganism  was  estab- 
lished already  gave  them  all  their  reverence.  But 
what  an  immeasurable  distance  separates  all  the 
pretended  oracles  of  paganism  from  the  dignity  of  the 
prophecies  in  the  Bible.  The  avowed  end  of  the 
former  was  to  satisfy  some  trivial  curiosity,  or  aid 
the  designs  of  some  military  or  political  leader.  The 
influence  of  intimidation  or  of  bribery  produced  them. 
They  were  never  spontaneous.  The  oracles  were 
careful  to  take  advantage  of  the  security  of  silence, 
until  obliged  to  speak  in  answer  to  a  direct  appeal. 
Then  they  never  uttered  a  syllable  without  getting 
time  for  preparation.  Inquiries  were  rendered  as 
difficult  and  as  expensive  as  possible,  in  order  not 
only  to  enrich  the  oracles,  but  to  diminish  the  occa- 
sions of  exposure.  Every  inquiry  must  be  attended 
with  numerous  and  minute  ceremonies  on  the  part  of 
the  applicant  as  well  as  the  prophet,  in  order  that 
omissions  or  mismanagements  might  afford  frequent 
excuses  for  the  failure  of  the  response,  without  im- 
plicating the  inspiration  of  its  author.  The  god  was 
not  always  in  a  humor  to  be  consulted.  "  Either  he 
was  talking,  or  he  was  pursuing,  or  he  was  in  a 
journey,  or  peradventure  he  was  sleeping,  and  must 
be  awakened."     This  afforded  a  very  convenient  op- 


PROPHECY.  247 

portunity  of  putting  off  a  difficult  case.  '^  Omens 
were  to  be  taken,  and  auguries  examined,  which,  if 
unfavorable  in  any  particular,  either  precluded  the 
inquiry  for  the  present,  or  required  further  lustrations, 
ceremonies,  and  sacrifices — to  purify  the  person  who 
had  consulted,  and  render  him  fit  to  receive  an 
answer  from  the  gods,  or  to  bring  their  wayward 
deities  to  a  temper  suitable  to  the  inquiry."*  When 
no  means  of  evasion  remained,  the  answers  given 
were  either  so  ambiguous  as  to  suit  any  alternative, 
or  so  obscure  as  to  require  a  second  oracle  to  explain 
them.  When  the  prediction  failed  there  was  no  want 
of  subterfuges  by  which  to  maintain  the  credit  of  the 
oracle.  It  was  conveniently  discovered,  either  that 
the  gods  were  averse  to  the  inquirer,  or  that  he  had 
not  been  in  a  proper  state  for  the  consultation,  or 
that  some  indispensable  ceremony  had  been  omitted 
or  mismanaged.  But  all  these  precautions  and  arti- 
fices were  not  sufficient  to  prevent  those  oracles  from 
falling  into  utter  contempt  with  the  more  enlightened 
heathens.^  Who  could  think  of  comparing  such 
pitiful  mockeries  of  divine  omniscience  with  the 
dignified  and  sublime  and  holy  prophecies  which  are 
spread  out  so  openly  and  widely  in  the  Scriptures? 
To  point  out  the  particulars  in  which  the  prophets  of 
the  Bible  were  distinguished  above  all  the  oracles  of 
the  pagans,  were  to  suppose  a  measure  of  ignorance 
among  my  hearers,  as  to  the  most  conspicuous  fea- 
tures of  the  Scriptures,  with  which  I  cannot  believe 

*  Nare's  View  of  Prophecy. 

t  Slilliiigfleet's  Orig.  Sacrac,  1.  2,  ch.  8,  p.  221. 


246  •  M'lLVAINE^S  EVIDENCES. 

them  chargeable.  But  our  assertion  remams,  and 
deserves  to  be  repeated,  that  neither  in  the  rise,  nor 
in  the  progressive  advancement  of  any  rehgion  but 
that  of  the  Bible,  have  prophecies  been  professed  or 
appealed  to  in  evidence  of  its  truth.  This  single 
i'act,  that  all  other  religions  have  shrunk  from  at- 
tempting such  dangerous  ground  ;  that  notwithstand- 
ing the  boldness  with  which  other  descriptions  of 
evidence  have  been  counterfeited  among  pagans  and 
Mohammedans,  and  in  support  of  the  corruptions  of 
popery,  all  have  kept  aloof  from  this ;  and  yet,  that 
this  vdry  evidence,  so  extremely  hazardous,  so  cer- 
tain of  ultimate  exposure  in  case  of  imposition,  is 
everywhere  professed  in  the  Bible,  and  forms  the 
golden  chain  that  holds  all  its  parts  together,  and  by 
which  it  spans  the  world,  touching  at  once  its  be- 
ginning and  ending,  the  first  and  the  last :  this,  I 
say,  independently  of  the  question  of  fulfilment,  is  a 
strong  presumptive  argument  that  the  Bible  contains 
something  of  great  importance  which  no  other  religion 
possessed — something  to  warrant  it  in  venturing  where 
nothing  but  divine  Omniscience  is  able  to  tread ;  in 
other  words,  that  its  writers  were  holy  men,  who 
'*  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  overpowering  weight  of  the  evidence  from 
prophecy,  and  the  moral  grandeur  with  which  it 
attests  the  inspiration  of  God  and  the  Messiahship  of 
Christ,  can  only  be  appreciated  by  a  full  view  of  the 
immense  scheme  and  the  vast  extent  of  the  prophe- 
cies in  the  Bible.  Their  record  occupies  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Scriptures.    In  the  third  chapter  it  begins ; 


PROPHECY.  249 

in  the  last,  it  ends.  Its  spirit  arose  with  the  fall  of 
man  in  Eden ;  its  predictions  will  end  only  with  his  per- 
fect recovery  in  heaven.  During  the  progress  of  more 
than  four  thousand  years  the  scheme  of  prophecy  was 
continually  opening,  its  predictions  were  continually 
multiplying,  its  grand  object  and  purpose  were  be- 
coming more  and  more  distinct  and  luminous.  The 
spirit  of  prophecy  first  uttered  its  voice  when  as  yet 
our  fallen  parents  had  not  been  expelled  the  garden 
of  innocence.  Cain  heard  in  it  the  warning  of  his 
punishment.  Enoch  continued  its  declarations.  Noah 
transmitted  its  strain.  Abraham's  whole  life  was 
guided  and  encouraged  by  its  inspirations.  Isaac  was 
the  child,  as  well  as  the  instrument  of  prophetic 
communication.  Jacob  with  his  last  breath  foretold 
the  future  history  of  his  twelve  sons  in  their  genera- 
tions, and  the  reign  of  a  lawgiver  in  Judah  till  Shiloh 
should  come.  The  harp  of  prophecy  remained  in 
silence  while  the  posterity  of  Jacob  remained  in 
Egyptian  bondage;  but  no  sooner  was  Israel  free, 
than  the  Spirit  again  breathed  upon  its  strings,  and 
in  the  hand  of  Moses  it  spoke  of  the  great  Prophet 
who  was  to  come  to  the  church,  and  sketched  the 
Jewish  history  with  wonderful  minuteness,  down  even 
to  the  present  and  far  future  times.  Between  Mo- 
ses and  David  lived  Samuel,  a  prophet  of  the  Lord. 
Immediately  after  him  began  what  may  be  styled, 
with  emphatic  distinction,  "the  age  of  prophecy.'' 
It  opened  with  the  elevated  and  sublime  poetry 
of  David.  It  advanced  with  the  stern  ministry  of 
honored  Elijah.  As  he  went  up  in  the  flaming 
11* 


250  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

chariot,  translated  to  heaven,  his  mantle  descended 
upon  the  ^^  man  of  God"  Elisha.  Among  the  minor 
prophets  who  carried  on  the  spirit  of  this  age  of  seers, 
were  Hosea,  Amos,  and  Micah.  Then  followed  Isaiah, 
as  full  of  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  as  of  the  spirit  of 
prophecy;  and  Jeremiah,  overflowing  as  w^ell  with 
::ender  lamentation  for  the  aflliction  of  Israel,  as  with 
the  sublimest  predictions  of  the  days  when  the  Lord 
would  heal  and  comfort  them;  then  Ezekiel,  with  as 
many  visions  of  the  future  as  the  eyes  in  his  myste- 
rious wheels,  prophesying  *'  in  the  midst  of  the  valley 
which  was  filled  with  bones."  Ezekiel  connected 
in  his  person  the  age  of  prophecy  with  that  of  the 
captivity  of  Judah.  Daniel  succeeded  him,  and  be- 
sides the  prophetic  interpretation  of  the  handwriting 
on  the  wall,  foretold  the  succession  of  the  four  pow- 
erful monarchies,  and  the  feeble  rising  and  ultimate 
dominion  of  the  fifth,  and  determined  the  time  when 
the  daily  sacrifice  would  cease,  and  Messiah  be  cut 
ofl' — not  for  himself.  Haggai  and  Zechariah  con- 
tinued the  prophetic  strain,  after  the  return  of  Judah 
from  captivity.  Malachi  terminated  the  line  of  Old 
Testament  prophets  and  the  canon  of  Old  Testament 
scriptures,  with  the  sublime  annunciation  of  one  who 
was  to  come,  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elijah,  to 
prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord.  Again  the  harp  of 
prophecy  was  silent,  as  during  the  bondage  of  Egypt, 
until  ''  that  prophet"  like  unto,  but  infinitely  greater 
than  Moses  arose.  Jesus,  the  great  object  of  proph- 
ecy from  the  beginning  —  himself  ''the  spirit  of 
jji'ophccj/^^ — foretold,  besides  his  own  death  and  resur- 


TEOPHECY.  251 

rection,  the  calamities  that  should  befall  Jerusalem, 
as  well  as  the  utter  destruction  of  the  Jewish  state. 
Paul  followed  his  Master's  steps,  as  well  in  the  walks 
of  prophecy  as  of  martyrdom,  forewarning  the  church 
of  *'  that  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition,  whose  coin- 
ing is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with  all  power,  and 
signs,  and  lying  wonders.'"  John  closed  the  succes- 
sion of  prophecy  and  the  canon  of  Scripture  together, 
with  predictions,  the  awful  sublimity  of  which  no  pen 
can  rival,  and  the  wonderful  expanse  of  which  noth- 
ing but  the  events  of  all  future  time  can  measure. 

Thus  have  we  a  train  of  holy  men,  reaching  from 
the  earliest  age  of  mankind,  through  a  period  of  more 
than  four  thousand  years,  and  extending  their  pre- 
dictions to  the  world's  end.  I  see  in  them  the  utmost 
variety,  as  well  in  condition  and  character  as  in  the 
ages  in  which  they  lived — princes,  patriarchs,  priests, 
legislators,  shepherds,  fishermen.  Exceedingly  vari- 
ous in  natural  qualifications,  in  education,  habits, 
and  employments,  they  wrote  in  various  styles,  but 
each  as  he  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Grhost.  Now 
when,  in  connection  with  this  variety  in  the  prophets 
themselves,  I  consider  the  vast  variety  and  extent  of 
the  subjects  on  which  their  predictions  are  employed, 
embracing  not  only  the  history  of  the  Jews  for  many 
centuries,  but  that  also  of  the  minor  nations  imme- 
diately around,  with  that  of  the  more  remote  empires 
of  Egypt  and  Assyria,  and  Chaldea  and  Persia,  and 
Macedon  and  Rome ;  when  I  consider  that  in  this  im- 
mense vastness  of  extent,  so  great  is  their  minuteness 

*  2  Thess.  2  :  3-9. 


252  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

of  detail,  that  sundry  particular  events  and  features  in 
the  destruction  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  of  Nineveh 
and  Babylon  and  Tyre,  are  predicted  with  the  most 
graphic  and  striking  precision ;  when,  in  the  midst 
of  such  wonderful  diversity  of  authors,  ages,  circum- 
stances, and  of  subjects,  from  the  downfall  of  an 
empire  to  the  tumbling  of  a  wall,  I  perceive  not  the 
smallest  inconsistency  or  collision,  but  on  the  con- 
trary the  utmost  harmony,  as  well  of  execution  as 
of  purpose  and  of  spirit,  the  whole  array  of  prophecy, 
from  first  to  last,  bearing  down  and  concentrating 
upon  one  grand  object,  the  testimony  of  Jesus — the 
rise,  prog^ress,  and  eternal  accomplishment  of  his 
plan  of  redeeming'  love :  in  a  word,  when  I  behold 
a  scheme  so  vast  as  to  embrace  all  time,  and  yet  so 
minute  that  it  can  detail  the  events  of  an  hour;  so 
general,  that  in  a  few  lines  it  predicts  the  history  of 
the  four  mightiest  empires,  and  yet  so  particular  that 
chapters  are  devoted  to  the  history  of  one  individual; 
so  diversified  in  its  materials  as  to  be  made  up  of 
contributions  from  men  of  all  ages  and  minds,  during 
a  period  of  four  thousand  years,  and  yet  so  identical 
that  one  spirit  and  one  grand,  harmonious  purpose 
animated  the  whole :  when  I  compare  all  this,  arrayed 
as  it  is  in  the  richest  poetry  and  loftiest  eloquence 
that  eye  of  man  ever  read,  with  whatever  else  in  the 
world  ever  pretended  to  the  praise  of  prophecy,  I  be- 
hold a  grandeur  of  conception,  a  sublimity  of  design, 
an  all-controlling  power  of  execution,  a  unity  and 
self-depending  supremacy  of  mind  which  bespeak  the 
omniscience  and  omnipotence  of  Him  who  ^^was,  and 


PROPHECY.  253 

is,  and  is  to  come,  the  Almighty."  I  say  nothing 
yet  of  the  fulfilment  of  any  portion  of  this  stupendous 
plan;  I  only  say,  look  at  the  plan  itself  in  all  its 
comprehensiveness  and  minuteness,  and  tell  me  if  it 
be  not  utterly  at  variance  with  all  human  experience, 
and  in  itself  perfectly  incredible,  that  imposture  should 
have  conceived  such  a  scheme,  or  should  ever  have 
dared  to  commit  its  cause  to  a  venture  that  could 
only  succeed  by  a  continuance  of  miraculous  fortune 
through  all  ages  of  the  world.  Consider  the  plan 
itself,  the  various  minds  that  carried  on  the  succes- 
sion of  its  several  predictions,  forming  a  line  of  holy 
men  from  the  earliest  periods  of  antediluvian  history 
down  to  the  last  of  the  apostles  of  Christ;  see  how 
they  all  agree  in  spirit  and  purpose,  while  yet  so 
different  in  character  and  circumstances;  see  how 
they  all  unite  in  testifying  to  Christ,  so  that  as  the 
last  of  them  said,  *'The  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the 
spirit  of  prophecy ;"  then  tell  me  how  imposture  can 
be  supposed  to  have  wrought  unexposed  for  so  many 
thousands  of  years,  how  it  could  have  chosen  its 
agents  out  of  forty  centuries,  out  of  circumstances  so 
disadvantageous,  and  bid  them  embrace  such  an  im- 
mense range  of  subjects  for  their  predictions,  and  yet 
without  any  inconsistency  or  want  of  harmony,  or 
any  thing  incompatible  with  the  idea  of  one  all-per- 
vading mind  having  regulated  the  whole.  I  do  not 
say  that  so  much  as  one  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled. 
I  only  say,  and  I  challenge  all  denial,  that  not  a 
single  prediction  in  the  whole  succession  can  be  shown 
to  have  failed,  or  to  have  been  contradicted  by  the 


2M  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

times  or  events  to  which  it  referred.  I  only  assert, 
that  while  many  of  the  prophecies  remain  unfulfilled 
because  the  times  they  relate  to  have  not  arrived,  a 
very  great  number  must  have  either  been  fulfilled 
already,  or  have  utterly  failed ;  and  yet  no  unbe- 
liever could  ever  put  his  hand  on  that  portion  of  his- 
tory which  contradicted  the  truth  of  any.  I  ask  you 
to  remember  this  important  and  undeniable  fact,  and 
then  say  whether  it  is  not  most  impressive  evidence 
that  another  mind  than  that  of  man  was  the  author 
of  the  prophecies  of  the  Bible — whether  it  can  be 
supposed  possible  in  the  nature  of  things  that  human 
ingenuity  could  have  contrived  a  volume  of  predic- 
tions reaching  so  far,  extending  so  widely,  telling  so 
much,  assuming  such  particularity,  without  having 
been  contradicted  by  a  single  event  in  the  history  of 
nearly  six  thousand  years. 

We  now  enter  upon  the  question  of  fulfilment. 
I  undertake  to  show  that  the  history  of  the  world  has 
wonderfully  responded  to  the  prophecies  of  the  Bible, 
and  echoed  back  to  the  holy  men  who  uttered  them, 
a  complete  assurance  that  they  ''  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  But  where  shall  I  begin  ? 
It  were  easier  to  write  a  volume  on  this  one  subject 
than  to  compress  the  matter  within  our  necessary 
limits,  so  as  to  do  it  any  tolerable  justice.  Selecting 
some  insulated  portions  of  the  train  of  prophecy,  we 
must  content  ourselves  with  exhibiting  their  accom- 
plishment as  specimens  of  the  whole.  To  this,  the 
remainder  of  the  present  lecture,  and  the  whole  of  the 
next,  will  be  devoted. 


PROPHECY.  265 

As  an  example  of  minute  prediction  and  singular 
fulfilment,  compare  Jeremiah  34 : 2,  3,  with  Ezekiel 
12 :  13.  In  the  former  scripture,  it  was  foretold  by 
one  prophet,  B.  C.  590,  that  Zedekiah  the  king  of 
Judah  should  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  king 
of  Babylon,  and  behold  his  eyes,  and  speak  with  him 
mouth  to  ^nouth,  and  go  to  Babylon,  In  the  latter, 
it  was  foretold  by  another  prophet,  B.  C.  594,  that 
Zedekiah  should  not  see  Babylon^  though  he  should 
die  there.  But  is  there  not  a  contradiction  here? 
How  could  Zedekiah  be  taken  to  Babylon  and  behold 
her  king  and  die  there,  and  yet  never  see  the  city  ? 
The  history  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  written  without 
any  design  of  pointing  out  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
fully  explains  the  difficulty.  Zedekiah  was  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  beheld  his 
eyes,  and  spoke  with  him  mouth  to  mouth — not, 
however,  at  Babylon,  but  at  Riblah.  There  his  eyes 
were  put  out  by  command  of  his  captor,  B.  C.  588. 
In  this  state  he  went  to  Babylon  and  died  there, 
having  never  seen  the  city  of  his  captivity. 

Another  example  of  wonderful  minuteness  is  found 
in  the  prophecies  of  the  fall  and  destruction  of  Baby- 
Ion.  We  can  notice  only  a  small  part  of  them.  '*  It 
shall  never  be  inhabited,  neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in 
from  generation  to  generation.  Neither  shall  the 
Arabian  pitch  tent  there,  neither  shall  the  shepherds 
make  their  fold  there.  But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert 
shall  lie  there,  and  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  dole- 
ful creatures ;  and  owls  shall  dwell  there,  and  satyrs 
shall  dance  there,  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  islands 


256  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses,  and  dragons  in 
their  pleasant  palaces."*  *'  I  will  also  make  it  a  pos- 
session for  the  bittern,  and  pools  of  water:  and  I  will 
sweep  it  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts."  These  words  were  uttered  when 
Babylon  was  ^^the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty  of 
the  Chaldee's  excellency,"  about  one  hundred  and 
sixty  years  before  she  was  brought  down.  "  How 
hath  the  golden  city  ceased !"  "  Her  pomp  is  brought 
down  to  the  grave."  Sixteen  centuries  have  passed 
since  her  foundations  were  inhabited  by  a  human 
being.  Deterred  by  superstitious  fears  of  evil  spirits, 
which  are  said  to  haunt  the  place  where  she  stood, 
and  by  the  more  rational  dread  of  reptiles  and  wild 
beasts,  the  wandering  Arab  never  pitches  his  tent 
there.  In  a  plain  once  famous  for  the  richness  of  its 
pasture,  the  shepherds  make  no  fold.  Reptiles,  bats, 
and  ''doleful  creatures" — ^jackals,  hyenas,  and  lions — 
inhabit  the  holes  and  caverns  and  marshes  of  the 
desolate  city.  In  the  fourth  century,  Babylon  was  a 
hunting-ground  for  the  Persian  monarchs.  By  the 
annual  overflowing  of  the  Euphrates,  pools  of  stag- 
nant water  are  left  in  the  hollow  places  of  the  ancient 
site,  by  which  morasses  have  been  formed,  so  that 
Babylon  has  indeed  become  a  "possession  for  the  bit- 
tern, and  pools  of  water."  It  has  been  swept  '*  with 
the  besom  of  destruction."  The  fertile  plain  of  Shi- 
nar,  renowned  for  its  ancient  abundance,  is  an  unin- 
terrupted desert,  strewed  with  the  confused  ruins  of 
G-recian,  Roman,   and  Arabian   towns.     A  modern 

*  Isa.  13:20,  21,  22. 


PROPHECY.  257 

traveller,  in  his  '*  search  after  the  walls  of  Babylon," 
describes  ''  a  mass  of  solid  wall,  about  thirty  feet  in 
length,  by  twelve  or  fifteen  in  thickness,"  as  the  only 
part  of  them  that  can  now  be  discovered.*  Thus, 
according  to  the  words  of  the  prophet,  is  she  cast  up 
as  heaps,  destroyed  utterly  ;  nothing'  of  her  is  leflA 
Tyre  was  once  the  emporium  of  the  world,  **  the 
theatre  of  an  immense  commerce  and  navigation,  the 
nursery  of  arts  and  science,  and  the  city  of  perhaps 
the  most  industrious  and  active  people  ever  known."* 
Situate  at  the  entry  of  the  sea,  she  was  a  merchant 
of  the  people  for  many  isles.  All  nations  were  her 
merchants  in  all  sorts  of  things.  The  ships  of  Tar- 
shish  did  sing  of  her  in  the  market ;  and  she  was 
replenished  and  made  very  glorious  in  the  midst  of 
the  seas.*  It  was  of  this  mistress  of  princes  that 
Ezekiel  prophesied,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  ''  I  will 
scrape  her  dust  from  her,  and  make  her  like  the  top 
of  a  rock.  It  shall  be  a  place  for  the  spreading  of 
nets  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.""  How  singularly  par- 
ticular! She  was  not  only  to  be  utterly  destroyed, 
but  the  use  .that  would  be  made  of  her  site,  and  the 
kind  of  men  who  would  inhabit  it,  were  pointed  out 
more  than  a  thousand  years  before  her  complete  de- 
struction. How  precise  the  fulfilment !  Shaw,  in 
his  book  of  travels,  describes  the  port  of  Tyre  as  so 
choked  up  that  the  boats  of  the  fishermen,  who  now 
and  then  come  to  the  place  and  dry  their  nets  upon 

*  Buckingham's  Travels.  t  Jer.  1  :  26. 

t  Volney's  Travels.  §  Ezek.  ch.  27. 

II  Ezek.  26:4,  5. 


258  M'lLVAlNES  EVIDENCES. 

its  rocks  and  ruins,  can  hardly  enter.*  Bruce  de- 
scribes the  site  of  Tyre  as  '*  a  rock  whereon  fishers 
dry  their  nets."  But  the  testimony  of  the  infidel 
Volney  is  more  valuable.  ''  The  whole  village  of 
Tyre  contains  only  fifty  or  sixty  poor  families,  who 
live  obscurely  on  the  produce  of  their  little  ground 
and  a  ftrifling  fishery."^ 

E^ypi^  the  most  ancient,  was  also  the  most  power- 
ful and  wealthy  of  kingdoms.  But  a  prophecy  went 
forth  against  her  while  yet  she  was  in  all  her  pomp 
and  pride,  that  the  pride  of  her  power  should  come 
down ;  that  her  land  and  all  that  was  therein  should 
be  made  waste  by  the  hand  of  strangers  ;  that  there 
should  be  no  more  a  prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
the  sceptre  of  Egypt  should  depart  away.^  How  uni- 
versally this  once  fertile  country,  the  granary  of  the 
world,  has  been  wasted,  and  her  innumerable  cities 
have  been  buried;  how  remarkably  the  hand  of 
strangers  has  done  it,  and  how  deplorably  the  rem- 
nant of  this  populous  nation  is  now,  and  has  been 
for  many  centuries,  under  slavery  and  ignorance  and 
poverty  and  rapine  and  every  crime,  I  need  not  de- 
scribe. The  most  remarkable  portion  of  the  prophecy 
is  that  which  declares  that  there  shall  be  '*  no  more 
a  prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  From  the  conquest 
of  the  Persians,  about  350  years  before  Christ,  to  the 
present  day,  the  sceptre  of  Egypt  has  been  broken ; 
she  has  been  governed  by  strangers ;  every  effort  to 
raise  an  Egyptian  to  the  throne  has  been  defeated. 

•  Shaw's  Travels,  ch.  2,  p.  31.        t  Travels,  ch.  2,  p.  212. 
X  Ezek.  30:6,  12,  13  3  Zech.  10:  11. 


PROPHECY.  259 

Out  of  the  mouth  of  Volney  the  Lord  has  caused  to 
be  declared  the  fulfilment  of  his  word.  Of  Egypt, 
that  most  unwilling  agent  in  establishing  the  truth  of 
Scripture  writes,  "  Deprived,  twenty-three  centuries 
ago,  of  her  natural  proprietors,  she  has  seen  her  fer- 
tile fields  successively  a  prey  to  the  Persians,  the 
Macedonians,  the  Romans,  the  Greeks,  the  Arabs, 
the  Georgians,  and  at  length  the  race  of  Tartars,  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  Ottoman  Turks.  The 
Mamelukes,  purchased  as  slaves  and  introduced  as 
soldiers,  soon  usurped  the  power,  and  elected  a  leader. 
If  their  first  establishment  was  a  singular  event,  their 
continuance  is  not  less  extraordinary.  They  are  re- 
placed by  slaves  brought  from  their  original  country. 
The  system  of  oppression  is  methodical.  Every  thing 
the  traveller  sees  or  hears  reminds  him  he  is  in  the 
country  of  slavery  and  tyranny."* 

Among  the  most  interesting  fulfilments  of  proph- 
ecy are  those  discovered  in  the  present  condition  of 
the  country  and  cities  of  Judea,  For  a  very  striking 
view  of  them  the  reader  is  referred  to  Keith  on 
Prophecy,  a  valuable  work  lately  republished  in  this 
country.  But  there  is  one  prediction  in  this  depart- 
ment which  T  cannot  pass  over.  After  describing  the 
divine  judgments  upon  the  land,  the  prophet  adds, 
*'  The  generation  to  come  of  your  children,  and  the 
stranger  that  shall  come  from  a  far  land,  shall  say, 
when  they  see  the  plagues  of  that  land,  and  the  sick- 
nesses which  the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  it.  Wherefore 
hath  the  Lord  done  thus  unto  this  land  ?  What 
•  Travels,  ch.  2,  p.  74.  103,  110,  198. 


260  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

meaneth  the  heat  of  this  great  anger?"*  About 
three  thousand  years  after  these  words  were  written, 
a  famous  traveller,  a  scoffer  at  the  Scriptures,  walks 
through  this  smitten  country.  He  is  a  stranger  from 
a  far  land.  Deeply  impressed  with  the  aspect  of  all 
things  around  him,  and  in  all  probability  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  prophecy  he  is  about  to  fulfil,  he 
exclaims,  *'  Good  God !  from  whence  proceed  such 
melancholy  revolutions  ?  For  what  cause  is  the  for- 
tune of  these  countries  so  strikingly  changed  ?  Why 
are  so  many  cities  destroyed?  Why  is  not  thai 
ancient  population  reproduced  and  perpetuated?"  ''  ] 
wandered  over  the  country.  I  traversed  the  prov- 
inces. I  enumerated  the  kingdoms  of  Damascus  and 
Idumea,  of  Jerusalem  and  Samaria.  This  Syria, 
said  I  to  myself,  now  almost  depopulated,  then  con- 
tained a  hundred  flourishing  cities,  and  abounded 
with  towns,  villages,  and  hamlets.  What  are  become 
of  so  many  productions  of  the  hands  of  man?"^  etc. 

No  prophecies  deserve  more  of  the  attention  of 
the  student  of  Scripture  than  those  concerning  the 
JewSy  which  are  scattered  from  one  end  of  the  Bible 
to  the  other.  Their  wonderful  accomplishment  is  in 
every  one's  view.  We  can  only  glance  at  some  of 
the  many  particulars  which  they  embrace.  Three 
thousand  two  hundred  years  ago  it  was  written  by 
Moses,  "  The  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all  peo- 
ple from  the  one  end  of  the  earth  even  unto  the 
other.  And  among  these  nations  shalt  thou  find  no 
ease,  neither  shall  the  sole  of  thy  foot  have  rest ;  and 

♦  Dcut.  29  :  22,  24.  t  Volney's  RuinSj  ch,  2.  p.  8. 


PROPHECY.  261 

thou  shalt  become  an  astonishment,  a  proverb,  and  a 
byword  among  all  the  nations  whither  the  Lord 
shall  lead  thee ;  and  thou  shalt  be  only  oppressed 
and  crushed  always ;  and  the  Lord  will  make  thy 
plagues  wonderful,  and  the  plagues  of  thy  seed,  even 
great  plagues,  and  of  long  continuance."*  But  not- 
withstanding all  this,  the  Jews  were  not  to  be  de- 
stroyed without  recovery.  "  Yet  for  all  that,"  saith 
the  prophecy,  **  when  they  be  in  the  land  of  their 
enemies,  I  will  not  cast  them  away,  neither  will  I 
abhor  them,  to  destroy  them  utterly."^  "  I  will  make 
a  full  end  of  all  the  nations  whither  I  have  driven 
thee,  but  I  will  not  make  a  full  end  of  thee."^  ''  For 
the  children  of  Israel  shall  abide  many  days  without 
a  king,  and  without  a  prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice, 
and  without  an  image,  and  without  an  ephod,  and 
without  teraphim:  afterward  shall  the  children  of 
Israel  return,  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God  and  David 
their  king ;  and  shall  fear  the  Lord  and  his  goodness 
in  the  latter  days."^ 

There  is  nothing  in  the  history  of  nations  so 
unaccountable  on  human  principles,  as  the  destruc- 
tion and  the  preservation  of  the  Jews.  *^  Scattered 
among  all  nations,"  where  are  they  not  ?  Citizens  of 
the  world,  and  yet  citizens  of  no  country  in  the 
world,  in  what  habitable  part  of  the  world  is  not 
the  Jew  familiarly  known  ?  He  has  wandered  every- 
where, and  is  still  everywhere  a  wanderer.  One 
characteristic  of  this  wonderful  race  is  written  over 

*  Deut.  ch.  28.  t  Lev.  26  :  44. 

t  Jer.  46  :  27,  28.  §  Hosca  3  :  4,  5. 


262  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

all  their  history,  from  their  dispersion  to  the  present 
time.  Among  the  nations  they  have  found  no  ease, 
nor  rest  to  the  soles  of  their  feet.  Banished  from 
city  to  city,  and  from  country  to  country — always 
insecure  in  their  dwelling-places,  and  liable  to  be 
suddenly  driven  away,  whenever  the  bigotry  or  ava- 
rice or  cruelty  of  rulers  demanded  a  sacrifice,  a  late 
decree  of  the  Russian  empire  has  proclaimed  to  the 
world  that  their  banishments  have  not  yet  ceased. 
Never  certain  of  permission  to  remain,  it  is  the  noto- 
rious peculiarity  of  this  people,  as  a  body,  that  they 
live  in  habitual  readiness  to  remove.  In  this  con- 
dition of  universal  affliction,  how  singular  it  is  that 
among  all  people  the  Jew  is  *'an  astonishment,  a 
proverb,  a  byword."  Such  is  not  the  case  with  any 
other  people.  Among  Christians,  heathens,  and  Mo- 
hammedans, from  England  to  China,  and  thence  to 
America,  the  cunning,  the  avarice,  the  riches  of  the 
Jew,  are  proverbial.  And  how  wonderful  have  been 
their  plagues.  The  heart  sickens  at  the  history  of 
their  persecutions  and  massacres  and  imprisonments 
and  slavery.  All  nations  have  united  to  oppress 
them.  All  means  have  been  employed  to  extermi- 
nate them.  Robbed  of  property,  bereaved  of  children, 
buried  in  the  dungeons  of  the  inquisition,  or  burned 
at  the  stake  of  deplorable  bigotry,  no  people  ever 
suffered  the  hundredth  part  of  their  calamities,  and 
still  they  live.  It  was  prophesied  that,  as  a  nation, 
they  should  be  restored ;  consequently  they  were  not 
only  to  be  kept  alive,  but  unmingled  with  the  nations, 
everywhere  a  distinct   race,  and    capable  of  being 


PROPHECY.  203 

selected  and  gathered  out  of  all  the  world,  when  the 
time  for  their  restoration  should  arrive.  The  fulfil- 
ment of  this  forms  the  most  astonishing  part  of  the 
whole  prophecy.  For  nearly  eighteen  hundred  years 
they  have  heen  scattered  and  mixed  up  among  all 
people ;  they  have  had  no  temple,  no  sacrifice,  no 
prince,  no  genealogies,  no  certain  dwelhng-places. 
Forbidden  to  be  governed  by  their  own  laws  to 
choose  their  own  magistrates,  to  maintain  any  com 
mon  policy,  every  ordinary  bond  of  national  union 
and  preservation  has  been  wanting ;  whatever  influ- 
ences, of  local  attachment,  or  of  language,  or  man- 
ners, or  government,  have  been  found  necessary  to 
the  preservation  of  other  nations,  have  been  denied 
to  them  ;  all  the  influences  of  internal  depression 
and  outward  violence  which  have  ever  destroyed  and 
blotted  out  the  nations  of  the  earth,  have  been  at 
work  with  unprecedented  strength  for  nearly  eighteen 
centuries  upon  the  nation  of  Israel ;  and  still  the 
Jews  are  a  people,  a  distinct  people,  a  numerous 
people,  unassimilated  with  any  nation,  though  mixed 
up  with  all  nations.  Their  peculiarities  are  undi- 
minished. Their  national  identity  is  unbroken. 
Though  scattered  upon  all  winds,  they  are  perfectly 
capable  of  being  again  gathered  into  one  mass. 
Though  divided  into  the  smallest  particles  by  nu-' 
merous  solvents,  they  have  resisted  all  affinities,  and 
may  be  traced,  unchanged,  in  the  most  confused 
mixtures  of  human  beings.  The  laws  of  nature  have 
been  suspended  in  their  case.  It  is  not  merely  that 
a  stream  has  held  on  its  way  through  the  waters  of 


264  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

a  lake  without  losing  the  color  and  characteristic 
marks  of  its  own  current,  but  that  a  mighty  river, 
having  plunged  from  a  mountain-height  into  the  depth 
of  the  ocean,  and  been  separated  into  its  component 
drops,  and  thus  scattered  to  the  ends  of  the  world, 
and  blown  about  by  all  winds  during  almost  eighteen 
centuries,  is  still  capable  of  being  disunited  from  the 
waters  of  the  ocean ;  its  minutest  drops,  having 
never  been  assimilated  to  any  other,  are  still  dis- 
tinct, unchanged,  and  ready  to  be  gathered,  waiting 
the  voice  that  shall  call  again  the  outcasts  of  Israel 
and  the  dispersed  of  Judah.  Meanwhile,  where  are 
the  nations  among  whom  the  Jews  were  scattered  ? 
Has  not  the  Lord,  according  to  his  word,  made  a  full 
end  of  them  ?*  While  Israel  has  stood  unconsumed 
in  the  fiery  furnace,  where  are  the  nations  that 
kindled  its  flames?  Where  are  the  Assyrians  and 
Chaldeans  ?  Their  name  is  almost  forgotten.  Their 
existence  is  known  only  to  history.  Where  is  the 
empire  of  the  Egyptians  ?  The  Macedonians  de- 
stroyed it,  and  a  descendant  of  its  ancient  race  can- 
not be  distinguished  among  the  strangers  that  have 
ever  since  possessed  its  territory.  Where  are  they  of 
Macedon  ?  The  Roman  sword  subdued  their  king- 
dom, and  their  posterity  are  mingled  inseparably 
among  the  confused  population  of  Greece  and  Tur- 
key. Where  is  the  nation  of  ancient  Rome,  the  last 
conquerors  of  the  Jews,  and  the  proud  destroyers  of 
Jerusalem?  The  G-oths  rolled  their  flood  over  its 
pride.  Another  nation  inhabits  the  ancient  city. 
»  Jeremiah  46  :  28. 


PROPHECY.  265 

Even  the  language  of  her  former  people  is  dead. 
The  Goths,  where  are  they?  The  Jews,  w^here 
are  they  not  ?  They  witnessed  the  glory  of  Egypt 
and  of  Babylon  and  of  Nineveh ;  they  were  in  ma- 
ture age  at  the  birth  of  Macedon  and  of  Rome; 
mighty  kingdoms  have  risen  and  perished  since  they 
began  to  be  scattered  and  enslaved ;  and  now  they 
traverse  the  ruins  of  all,  the  same  people  as  when 
they  left  Judea,  preserving  in  themselves  a  monu- 
ment of  the  days  of  Moses  and  the  Pharaohs,  as  un- 
changed as  the  pyramids  of  Memphis  which  they  are 
reputed  to  have  built.  You  may  call  upon  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  and  will  call  in  vain  for  one  living  repre- 
sentative of  those  powerful  nations  of  antiquity  by 
whom  the  people  of  Israel  were  successively  op- 
pressed ;  but  should  the  voice  to  gather  that  people 
out  of  all  lands,  be  now  heard  from  mount  Zion,  call- 
ing for  the  children  of  Abraham,  no  less  than  four 
millions  would  instantly  answer  to  the  name,  each 
bearing  in  himself  unquestionable  proofs  of  that  noble 
lineage. 

What  is  this  but  miracle?  Connected  with  the 
prophecy  which  it  fulfils,  it  is  a  double  miracle. 
Whether  testimony  can  ever  establish  the  credibility 
of  a  miracle,  is  of  no  importance  here.  This  one  is 
obvious  to  every  man's  senses.  All  nations  are  its 
eye-witnesses. 

Among  the  most  striking  and  comprehensive,  and 
yet  particular  prophecies,  are  those  of  Daniel.  The 
history  of  the  four  great  empires  of  Chaldea,  Persia, 
Macedon,  and  Rome,  is  embraced  in  his  predictions. 

EvideDcei.  1 2 


266  MMLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

We  mention  these,  not  that  we  intend  to  trace  out 
their  fulfilment,  but  merely,  in  passing,  to  insert  a 
remarkable  testimony  concerning  them  from  one  of 
the  most  learned  expositors  of  the  prophetic  Scrip- 
tures, and  another  from  the  most  learned  and  acute 
of  the  ancient  opposers  of  Christianity.  Bishop  New- 
ton, speaking  of  that  portion  of  Daniel's  prophecies 
which  relates  to  the  kingdoms  of  Egypt  and  Syria, 
from  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great  to  the  time  of 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-eight  years,  remarks,  *'  There  is  not  so  complete 
and  regular  a  series  of  their  kings,  there  is  not  so 
concise  and  comprehensive  an  account  of  their  af- 
fairs, to  bo  found  in  any  author  of  those  times. 
The  prophecy  is  really  more  perfect  than  any  history. 
No  one  historian  hath  related  so  many  circumstances, 
and  in  such  exact  order  of  time,  as  the  prophet  hath 
foretold  them;  so  that  it  was  necessary  to  have  re- 
course to  several  authors,  Greek  and  Roman,  Jewish 
and  Christian,  and  to  collect  here  something  from  one, 
and  to  collect  there  something  from  another,  for  the 
better  explaining  and  illustrating  the  great  variety  of 
particulars  contained  in  this  prophecy."*  Thus  far, 
the  testimony  of  a  learned  friend  of  Christianity.  The 
corresponding  testimony  of  a  learned  enemy  we  have 
in  the  celebrated  Porphyry  of  the  third  century,  to 
whom  the  exact  correspondence  between  the  predic- 
tions and  the  events  was  so  convincing,  that  he  could 
not  pretend  to  deny  it.  He  rather  labored  to  confirm 
it;  and  from  the  very  exactness  of  the  fulfilment 
*  Newton  on  Prophecy,  ch.  2,  p.  149^ 


PROPHECY.  '  267 

forged  his  only  weapon  of  defence,  in  the  assertion 
that  the  prophecy  could  not  have  been  written  by 
Daniel,  but  must  have  been  written  by  some  one  in 
Judea,  in  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphancs.*  Others 
after  him  have  asserted  the  same  thing,  not  only 
without  any  proof,  but  contrary  to  all  the  proofs 
which  can  be  had  in  cases  of  this  nature.  They  pre- 
ferred the  denial  of  the  plainest  historical  evidence  of 
the  time  when  the  prophecy  was  written,  to  the  ac- 
knowledgment that  its  author  must  have  written  ''by 
inspiration  of  God."  Paine,  however,  whose  willing- 
ness to  escape  the  argument  from  prophecy  cannot 
be  questioned,  and  who  was  probably  ignorant  of 
what  Porphyry  had  acknowledged  as  to  the  corre- 
spondence between  the  words  of  this  prophet  and  those 
of  subsequent  history,  confessed  the  authenticity  of 
the  book  of  Daniel.  Here,  then,  we  have  one  famous 
infidel  acknowledging  that  the  prophecy  was  written 
at  the  time  and  by  the  man  to  whom  it  is  ascribed, 
and  another  verifying  the  exactness  of  its  fulfilment 
in  the  history  of  a  subsequent  age.  Paine  denied  the 
fulfilment;  Porphyry,  the  authenticity.  Porphyry 
acknowledged  the  fulfilment ;  Paine,  the  authenticity. 
*'  He  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness." 

I  now  call  your  attention  to  the  prophecies  con- 
cerning our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  are  scattered 
everywhere  throughout  the  prophetic  portions  of  the 
Bible.  "  To  him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness."  None 
of  them  could  lay  down  the  pen  of  inspiration  till  they 
had  written  something,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  Jesus. 
*  Lardner,  ch.  4,  p.  215. 


2G8  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

1.  The  first  class  of  these  predictions  consists  of 
those  which  relate  to  the  time  and  circumstances  of 
the  advent  of  Christ,  Daniel,  B.  C.  6bQ^  determined 
the  year  of  his  coming,  when  four  hundred  and  ninety 
years  should  be  accomplished  from  the  going  forth 
of  the  command  to  rebuild  Jerusalem.  Jacob,  more 
than  a  thousand  years  before  Daniel,  had  said  it  would 
be  when  the  sceptre  was  departing  from  Judah,  and 
a  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet.*  Haggai  and  Isaiah 
declared  that  it  would  be  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  and  during  the  existence  of  the  second 
temple.^  Micah  designated  Bethlehem  Ephratah  as 
his  birthplace.^  Many  prophecies  predicted  that  he 
should  come,  not  only  of  the  stock  of  Judah,  but  of 
the  stem  of  Jesse.*  Isaiah  and  Malachi  spoke  of  the 
messenger  who  should  go  before  him,  in  the  spirit  and 
power  of  Elijah,  to  prepare  his  way." 

2.  The  next  class  of  predictions  concerning  our 
Lord  contains  those  which  speak  of  his  life^  suffer- 
ings, death,  resurrection,  and  the  increase  of  his 
kingdom.  These  are  so  numerous  and  particular, 
and  so  familiar  to  most  readers  of  the  Bible,  that  we 
shall  content  ourselves  with  a  rapid  summary.  They 
predicted  that  Christ,  or  Messiah,  would  be  born  of  a 
virgin  ;^[  that  he  should  enter  Jerusalem  on  the  foal 
of  an  ass;**  that  in  his  manner  of  teaching  he  should 
be  characterized  by  special  gentleness  and  compas- 
sion;^^ that  he  would  be  distinguished  as  wise  "to 

*  Gen.  49:10.  "  Isa.40:3;  Ma.l.3:l;  4:5. 

t  Isa.40:9;  41  :27;  Hag.2:6-8.  IT  Isa.  7: 14. 
X  Micah  5:  2.  **  Zech.  9:9. 

i  Isa.  11  :1.  tt  Isa.  42:  1-3. 


^  PROPHECY.  269 

speak  a  word  in  season  to  him  that  is  weary  ;''^*  that 
he  should  blind  the  eyes  of  the  learned  and  proud, t 
and  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor  and  despised; 
that  under  his  ministry  the  lame  should  be  made  to 
walk,  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  blind  to  see,  the  dumb 
to  speak,  the  captive  to  be  loosed,  and  the  dead  raised 
up;*  that  he  should  teach  the  perfect  way,  and  be 
the  instructor  of  the  Gentiles;*  that  he  should  be  a 
sacrifice  for  sin,  be  rejected  of  the  Jews,  who  them- 
selves should  be  rejected  of  God;"  '^that  the  kings  of 
the  earth  and  all  people  should  worship  him*;"1I  but 
that  the  people  who  rejected  him  should  continue  a 
distinct  people,  and  yet  be  scattered  over  all  nations, 
and  wander  about  without  princes,  without  sacrifices, 
without  an  altar,  without  prophets,  looking  for  deliv- 
erance and  not  finding  it,  till  a  very  distant  period.** 
The  correspondence  between  the  several  particu- 
lars related  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  predictions 
scattered  through  the  Bible,  is  extremely  striking. 
The  evangelists  in  this  respect  are  but  echoes  of  the 
prophets.  I  can  give  but  a  rapid  sketch.  These  pre- 
dictions include  the  treachery  and  awful  end  of  Ju- 
das, ^^  the  precise  sum  of  money  for  which  he  betrayed 
his  Master,  and  the  use  to  which  it  was  put.**  They 
specify  not  only  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  but  of  what . 
they  should  consist.  That  his  back  should  be  given 
to  the  smiters,  his  face  to  shame  and  spitting;**  that 

*  Isa.  50:4.  1  Isa.  60: 10-12, etc.;  53:12. 

t  Isa.  5:15.  *•  Jer.  31:36;  Hos.  3:4,  5. 

t  Isa.  35:5,  6;  9:2.  tt  Psa.  41 :9;  55:12-15. 

5  Isa.  42:6.  «  Zech.  11:12,  13. 

"  Isa.  ch.  53;  8:14,  15.  H  Isa.  50:6. 


270  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

he  should  be  put  to  death  by  a  mode  which  would 
cause  his  hands  and  his  feet  to  be  pierced;  that  he 
should  be  wounded,  bruised,  and  scourged;*  that  in. 
his  death  he  should  be  numbered  with  transgressors,  t 
and  in  his  sufferings  have  gall  and  vinegar  given  him 
to  drink;*  that  his  persecutors  should  laugh  him  to 
scorn,  and  shake  their  heads,  reviling  him,  arid  say- 
ing, '*He  trusted  in  the  Lord  that  he  would  deliver* 
him;  let  him  deliver  him."^  Although  it  was  the 
custom  to  break  the  bones  of  those  who  were  cruci- 
fied, and  although  the  bones  of  the  thieves  crucified 
with  him  were  broken,  yet  it  was  predicted  that  '*not 
a  bone  of  him  should  be  broken;""  and  moreover,  that 
his  garments  should  be  divided,  and  lots  cast  for  his 
vesture  ;1[  that  while  he  should  *^make  his  graVe  with 
the  wicked,"  as  he  did  in  being  buried  like  the  wicked 
companions  of  his  death,  under  the  general  leave  for 
taking  down  their  bodies  from  the  cross,  he  should  at 
the  same  time  make  his  grave  **with  the  rich,"  as 
was  done  when  they  buried  him  in  the  sepulchre  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathea.**  I  might  enumerate  many 
more  details  of  prophecy  centering  upon  the  life  and 
death  of  Christ.  What  have  been  mentioned  are 
abundantly  sufficient  for  our  present  argument.  I 
have  only  recited  a  concise  list  of  the  predictions.     I 

*  Zech.  12:10;  Psa.  22:16.       "  Num.  9:12;  Exod.  12:46; 

t  Isa.  53 :  4,  5,  8,  1 2.  Psa.  34 :  20. 

tPsa.  69:21.  If  Psa.  22:18. 

*Psa.  22:7,  8. 

••  Isaiah  53  : 9.  The  translation  of  this  verse  in  Lowth's 
Isaiah  is  much  more  to  the  point  than  that  of  the  common  text: 
**' And  his  grave  was  appointed  with  the  wicked;  but  with  the 
rich  man  was  his  tomb." 


PROPHECY.  271 

cannot  suppose  any  of  you  so  unacquainted  with  the 
history  of  Christ,  as  not  to  be  able  familiarly  to  refer 
to  all  those  passages  in  his  life  and  death  by  which 
they  were  minutely  and  wonderfully  fulfilled.  Now, 
consider  that  no  question  is  raised  by  any  one,  wheth- 
er these  predictions  were  made  and  published  several 
centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  The  enemies  of 
Christ,  his  crucifiers,  have  been  the  librarians  of  these 
writings.*  The  Jews  preserved  them  for  us,  with  sacred 
care,  for  many  hundreds  of  years.  They  were  trans- 
lated from  Hebrew  into  Greek  at  least  two  hundred 
years  before  Christ.  The  Jews  then  understood  them 
to  refer  to  the  Messiah,  as  we  do  now ;  and  it  was  on 
account  of  some  of  them  that  a  general  expectation  of 
the  speedy  coming  of  Messiah  prevailed  so  widely  in 
Judea  at  the  time  of  tlie  public  appearance  of  Christ. 
That  all  these  particulars  were  most  remarkably 
combined  in  the  person,  character,  works,  sufferings, 
and  burial  of  ihe  Lord  Jesus,  I  need  not  say.  If  the 
predictions  did  not  originally  refer  to  him,  and  only 
happened  to  be  accomplished  in  him,  it  would  be 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  out  of  the  innumerable 
millions  of  men  that  have  lived  since  they  were  pub- 

*  Augustine,  in  the  fourth  century,  spoke  very  often  of  the 
great  advantage  which  Christians  had  in  their  arguments  for 
the  truth  of  the  gospel,  from  the  subsistence  and  dispersion  of 
the  Jewish  people,  who  everywhere  bear  testimony  to  the  an- 
tiquity and  genuineness  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament;  so 
that  none  could  say  they  were  afterwards  forged  by  Christians. 
He  therefore  calls  the  Jews  the  librarians  of  the  Christians;  he 
compares  them  to  servants  that  carry  books  for  the  use  of  chil- 
dren of  noble  families,  or  that  carry  a  chest  or  bag  of  evidence  for 
a  disputant.     Laidner,  ch.  2,  p.  698. 


272  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

lished,  some  other  individual,  if  not  hundreds,  would 
have  appeared  exhibiting  the  same  correspondence. 
Where  is  the  record  of  such  an  event?  Can  the  per- 
son be  mentioned  in  whom  there  was  even  an  approx- 
imation to  the  fulfilment  exhibited  in  the  history  of 
Jesus?  I  need  not  say,  that  no  one  ever  pretended 
to  be  able  to  find  such  a  person.  These  prophecies 
describe  a  combination  of  gentleness  with  power, 
merit  with  ignominy,  benevolence  with  contempt — 
they  bring  together  details  of  ancestry,  of  family,  of 
birth,  of  time,  of  works,  of  sufferings,  of  death,  which 
it  were  ridiculous  to  pretend  have  been  united  in  any 
individual  whose  name  is  in  the  annals  of  man,  except 
the  Son  of  man,  Christ  Jesus. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  among  these  predictions 
there  are  some  which  human  design  might  have 
brought  to  pass.  It  may  be  suggested  that  a  band 
of  men  undertaking  to  promote  an  imposture,  and 
having  these  predictions  before  them,  might  have 
selected  for  their  leader  one  who  had  been  born  at 
Bethlehem,  of  the  lineage  of  David,  and  might  have 
ordered  his  appearance  at  the  precise  time  of  the 
prophecy.  Let  this  be  supposed,  and  let  us  overlook 
the  fact  that  no  possible  motive  can  be  assigned  that 
could  induce  a  band  of  impostors  to  desire  the  setting 
up  of  such  a  cause  as  that  of  Christ;  still,  how  would 
imposture  contrive  to  unite  in  its  leader  the  fulfil- 
ment of  prophecies  which  on  one  hand  foretold  him 
as  eminent  for  wisdom  and  benevolence,  and  on  the 
other  for  shame  and  suffering?  How,  on  this  sup- 
jx)sition,  could  all  those  predictions  have  been  accom- 


rROPHECY.  273 

plished  which  relate  to  the  agonies  of  the  cross? 
Would  a  deceiver  seek  crucifixion  for  the  sake  of 
fulfilling  prophecy  ?  How  was  it  managed  that  one 
should  betray  him,  and  afterwards,  out  of  remorse, 
hang  himself?  How  was  it  contrived  that  the  ene- 
mies of  Christ  should  measure  the  price  of  his  blood 
at  the  exact  sum  predicted ;  and  then,  that  the  mer- 
cenary traitor  should  return  it  to  them  again,  and 
they  should  use  it  in  purchase  of  the  predicted  pot- 
ter's field  ?  How  did  imposture  so  artfully  combine 
in  its  cause  all  the  persecutors  of  Christ,  that  with- 
out any  design  to  advance  its  interests  they  should 
have  chosen  precisely  that  mode  of  execution,  those 
expressions  of  contempt,  those  instruments  of  tor- 
ture, those  companions  of  his  sufferings,  that  mixture 
for  his  drink,  that  severity  to  his  body  while  he  was 
alive,  and  that  forbearance  to  it  after  he  was  dead, 
which,  if  they  had  been  anxious  to  prove  him  the 
true  Messiah  foretold  in  the  Scriptures,  would  have 
composed  the  most  effectual  means  they  could  possi- 
bly employ  ?  Most  evidently,  the  bitter  adversaries 
of  Christianity,  not  its  friends,  brought  out  the  dem- 
onstration that  Jesus  was  he  to  whom  gave  all  the 
prophets  witness. 

And  now,  is  there  any  possible  escape  from  the 
absolute  necessity  of  acknowledging  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  was  in  the  writers  of  the  Bible,  and  that  his 
Spirit  has  testified  of  Jesus  ?  Will  any  one  pretend 
that  in  the  idea  of  chance  there  is  any  explanation  of 
the  coincidences  which  have  been  mentioned  ?  It 
will  not  be  useless  to  spend  a  moment  on  this  matter 
12* 


274  M'lLVAlNES  EVIDENCES. 

of  chance.  It  is  conceivable  that  a  prediction,  uttered 
at  a  venture,  confining  its  terms  to  but  one  event, 
and  expressing  that  in  a  general  way,  may  happen  to 
result  so  plausibly  as  to  seem  like  a  genuine  proph- 
ecy. But  only  let  it  descend  to  the  minutiae  of  time, 
place,  and  incidents,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  possi- 
bility of  its  success,  by  a  fortuitous  concurrence  of 
events,  will  become  extremely  desperate.  Hence,  the 
oracles  of  heathen  antiquity  always  took  good  care  to 
confine  their  predictions  to  one  or  two  particulars, 
and  to  express  them  in  the  most  general  and  ambig- 
uous terms.  Hence,  in  the  whole  range  of  history, 
except  the  prophecies  of  the  Scriptures,  there  is  not 
a  single  instance  of  a  prediction,  expressed  in  une- 
quivocal language  and  descending  to  any  minuteness, 
which  bears  the  slightest  claim  to  the  praise  of  fulfil- 
ment. But  to  set  this  in  a  more  impressive  light,  I 
will  quote  a  few  sentences  from  one  of  the  most  sci- 
entific laymen  of  the  present  day.  **  Suppose,"  says 
Olinthus  Gregory,  ''that  instead  of  the?  spirit  of 
prophecy,  breathing  more  or  less  in  every  book  of 
Scripture,  predicting  events  relative  to  a  great  variety 
of  general  topics,  and  delivering  besides  almost  innu- 
merable characteristics  of  the  Messiah,  all  meeting 
in  the  person  of  Jesus,  there  had  been  only  ten  men 
in  ancient  times  who  pretended  to  be  prophets,  each 
of  whom  exhibited  onlyj^t;^  independent  criteria  as 
to  place,  government,  concomitant  events,  doctrine 
taught,  effects  of  doctrine,  character,  sufferings,  or 
death,  the  meeting  of  all  which  in  one  person  should 
prove  the  reality  of  their  calling  as  prophets,  and  of 


PROPHECr.  275 

his  mission  in  the  character  they  have  assigned  him ; 
suppose,  moreover,  that  all  events  were  left  to  chance 
merely,  and  we  were  to  compute,  from  the  principles 
employed  by  mathematicians  in  the  investigation  of 
such  subjects,  the  probability  of  these  fifty  indepen- 
dent circumstances  happening  at  all:  assume  that 
there  is,  according  to  the  technical  phrase,  an  equal 
chance  for  the  happening  or  the  failure  of  any  one  of 
the  specified  particulars ;  then  the  probability  against 
the  occurrence  of  all  the  particulars  in  ariy  way,  is 
that  of  the  fiftieth  power  of  two  to  unity ;  that  is,  the 
probability  is  greater  than  eleven  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  7nillions  of  millions  to  one,  that  all  these  circum- 
stances do  not  turn  up  even  at  distinct  periods."*  But 
this  calculation,  you  must  observe,  specifies  no  partic- 
ular period  for  these  things  to  take  place,  but  allows 
from  the  time  of  uttering  the  predictions  to  the  end  of 
the  world  for  all  the  fifty  particulars  to  occur.  But  if 
a  time  be  fixed,  at  or  near  which  they  must  happen, 
the  immense  improbability  that  they  will  take  place 
exceeds  all  the  power  of  numbers  to  express.  This, 
moreover,  is  on  the  supposition  of  every  thing  being 
under  the  disposal  of  that  fiction  of  unbelief,  a  blind 
chance.  How  infinite  does  the  improbability  appear 
when  it  is  remembered  thsit  "  all  events  are  under 
the  control  of  a  Being  of  matchless  wisdom,  power, 
and  goodness,  who  hates  fraud  and  deception,  who 
must  especially  hate  it  when  attempted  under  his 
name  and  authority."  This  is  enough,  one  would 
think,  to  silence  for  ever  all  pleas  of  chance^  as  fur- 
*  Gregory's  Letters. 


276  MILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

nishing  an  unbeliever  the  least  opportunity  of  escape 
from  the  evidence  of  prophecy.  What  then  is  the 
conckision  to  which,  by  the  considerations  presented 
in  this  lecture,  we  are  authorized  to  come  ? 

First,  that  in  the  Bible  there  is  a  great  variety  of 
jTrophecy  relative  to  the  Messiah,  which  has  been  so 
remarkably  fulfilled  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  so  entirely 
unfulfilled  in  any  other  individual  of  whom  we  have 
any  history,  that  the  correspondence  necessarily  proves 
the  predictions  to  have  been  given  by  inspiration  of 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the  person  to  whom  that 
inspiration,  in  the  uttering  of  those  predictions,  referred. 

Secondly,  that  "the  Bible,  in  thus  containing  gen- " 
uine  prophecies  scattered  through  its  several  books, 
contains  a  revelation  from  God^  and  exhibits  numer- 
ous and  wide-spread  impressions  of  the  seal  of  divine 
authority. 

Lastly,  that  Jesus  Christ,  being  thus  pointed  out 
and  honored  by  the  Spirit  of  God  breathing  on  the 
lips  of  holy  men,  who,  in  various  centuries  before  his 
coming,  concurred  in  rendering  him  their  testimony 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  and  is 
to  come,  no  other  than  what  he  said,  the  Son  of 
God  ;  the  Saviour  of  sinners ;  *'  King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords." 

*' Behold,"  saith  He,  "I  come  quickly:  blessed 
is  he  that  keepeth  the  sayings  of  the  prophecy  of  this 
book."  ''  He  that  confesseth  me  before  men,  him 
will  I  also  confess  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 
But  *'how  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation  ?" 


PROPHECY.  277 


LECTURE   VIII. 

PROPHECY— CONTINUED. 

Our  blessed  Lord  was  a  prophet,  as  well  as  the 
grand  subject  of  prophecy.  Not  only  did  he  possess 
omnipotence  to  call  up  the  dead  from  the  sepulchre, 
but  omniscience  also  to  bring  forth  from  the  darkness 
of  the  future  what  to  uninspired  man  lies  as  secret 
as  the  mysteries  of  death.  By  prophecy,  as  well  as 
miracles,  he  established  the  divinity  of  his  mission. 
In  the  latter,  his  appeal  was  to  the  senses  of  eye-wit- 
nesses :  **  The  works  that  I  do  they  bear  witness  of 
me."  In  the  former,  it  was  to  the  testimony  of  sub- 
sequent history :  "  Now  I  tell  you  before  it  come  to 
pass,  that  when  it  is  come  to  pass  ye  may  believe 
that  I  am  he."  He  predicted  not  only  his  own  suf- 
ferings and  death  and  resurrection,  but  the  manner 
and  circumstances  attending  them ;  the  treachery  of 
Judas;  the  denial  of  Peter;  the  particulars  of  his 
ignominious  treatment  in  the  council  of  the  Jews, 
and  under  the  hands  of  Pilate  and  his  soldiers.  He 
foretold  the  rapid  spread  of  the  gospel,  the  persecu- 
tions of  his  disciples,  the  precise  manner  of  Peter's 
martyrdom,  the  continuance  of  John  till  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  rejection  of  the  Jews, 
and  the  bringing  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  church  of 
God 


278  MILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

But  none  of  our  Saviour's  prophecies  are  more 
impressive  than  those  concerning  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  contained  in  the  gospels  of  Mark  and 
Luke,  but  most  at  large  in  the  twenty-fourth  chapter 
of  Matthew.  These  we  select  as  the  subject  of  our 
consideration  at  present,  believing  we  shall  be  enabled 
to  show,  by  most  impressive  evidence,  that  Jesus  did 
indeed  possess  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  consequently 
was  divinely  commissioned  in  setting  up  the  faith  of 
the  gospel. 

There  is  but  one  preliminary  question  to  be  an- 
swered at  the  commencement  of  this  investigation, 
Is  it  well  ascertained  that  these  prophecies  were  pub- 
lished before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem? 

This  has  been  already  settled  in  our  lecture  on  the 
subject  of  authenticity ;  in  which  it  was  shown  that 
the  several  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  written 
in  the  age  to  which  they  are  referred,  and  by  the 
men  whose  names  they  bear.  It  will  be  sufficient  to 
state  in  this  place,  that  of  the  three  evangelists  who 
have  related  these  prophecies,  Matthew  and  Mark  are 
well  ascertained  to  have  died,  and  there  is  good  rea- 
son to  suppose  that  Luke  also  was  dead,  before  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

The  gospel  of  Matthew,  which  contains  the  most 
complete  account  of  the  predictions  in  question,  is 
commonly  acknowledged  to  have  been  written  first. 
Its  date  is  about  the  eighth  year  after  the  death  of 
Christ.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  being  in  the 
seventieth  year  of  the  Christian  era,  the  prophecies  in 
relation  to  it  were  published  by  Matthew  about  thirty 


PROPHECY.  279 

yearsj  and  were  declared  by  our  Saviour  about  thirty- 
seven  years  before  their  fulfihuent.  Several  years 
elapsed  also  between  the  publication  of  the  same 
prophecies  by  Mark  and  Luke,  and  the  events  to  which 
they  relate.  John,  the  only  one  of  the  four  evange- 
lists that  lived  and  wrote  subsequently  to  the  ruin  of 
the  holy  city,  is  the  only  one  that  omits  an  account 
of  the  predictions  concerning  it.  But  we  have  the 
most  satisfactory  evidence  that  no  suspicion  of  an  ex 
post  facto  origin  can  justly  attach  to  these  prophecies, 
in  the  important  fact,  that  although  familiarly  quoted 
by  the  early  Christian  writers  as  striking  evidence  of 
the  prophetic  character  of  Jesus,  we  read  of  no  writer 
against  Christianity  in  the  primitive  centuries  having 
attempted  to  paralyze  the  argument  by  maintaining 
that  they  were  not  published  till  Jerusalem  was  de- 
stroyed. If  enemies  so  near  the  events  predicted  had 
nothing  to  say,  will  any  deny  us  the  privilege  of  pro- 
ceeding in  our  present  investigation  unembarrassed  by 
any  question  on  this  head?* 

There  is  a  history  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
which,  if  it  had  been  composed  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  attesting  the  complete  accomplishment  of  our 
Lord's  predictions,  could  have  hardly  been  made  more 
appropriate  to  our  present  object.  It  was  written  by 
an  eye-witness  of  the  tragedy,  a  learned  witness — a 
witness  who,  having  been  first  an  eminent  leader 
among  the  troops  of  Judea,  and  then  a  prisoner  to  the 
Roman  commander,  and  continually  kept  about  his 

*  On  this  subject,  see  some  excellent  remarks  in  Paley's 
Evidences,  part  2,  ch.  1. 


280  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

person  for  the  sake  of  his  services,  cannot  be  accused 
of  having  written  without  accurate  information.  His 
book  was  composed  at  Rome ;  and  having  been  pre- 
sented by  the  author  to  the  emperor  Vespasian,  and 
to  his  son  Titus,  who  had  commanded  at  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem,  the  latter  not  only  desired  its  publication, 
but  subscribed  his  own  hand  in  confirmation  of  its 
correctness.  It  was  also  presented  to  and  approved 
by  several  Jews  who  had  been  present  at  the  scenes 
described.*  We  could  not  desire  a  more  complete 
attestation  of  the  fulfilment  of  our  Saviour's  prophe- 
cies than  this  book  affords.  And  yet  the  writer  was 
a  Jew  to  the  day  of  his  death,  and  consequently  an 
enemy  of  Christianity,  and  could  have  had  no  design 
in  favor  of  the  prophetic  spirit  of  its  founder.  I  speak  ' 
of  Josephus.  It  is  remarkable  that  one  of  the  most 
minute  prophecies  in  the  Bible  should  have  from  an 
enemy  the  most  minute  of  histories  to  show  its  ful- 
filment. No  great  event  in  profane  history  is  related 
with  so  much  attention  to  all  the  particulars  connected 
with  it,  as  is  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  this 
Jewish  writer.  When  we  consider  these  things,  and 
remember  the  extraordinary  manner  in  which  Jose- 
phus was  several  times  protected  from  almost  inev- 
itable death,  we  may  clearly  discern  the  hand  of  a 
wise  Providence  preparing  the  way  of  the  gospel.  A 
witness  was  preserved  and  chosen  of  Grod,  to  write 
an  account  of  the  divine  judgments  upon  Jerusalem, 
whose  testimony  neither  Jews  nor  heathens  could 

*  Josephus'  Life,  sec.   65 j  p.  23.     Contr.   Apion.  book  1, 
sec.  9. 


PROPHECY.  281 

deny  or  suspect.     We  proceed  to  compare  his  state- 
ments with  the  prophecies  in  question. 

1.  Let  us  begin  with  those  events  which  the  Sav- 
iour foretold  as  signs  of  approaching  desolation.  Thus 
it  is  written,  **Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive  you; 
for  many  shall  come  in  my  name,  saying,  I  am 
Christ,  and  shall  deceive  many.""*  Here  are  two 
distinct  predictions — many  pretenders  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Messiah,  and  their  success  in  deceiving 
many.  As  the  prophecy  draws  nearer  to  the  chief 
event,  it  enlarges  on  this  particular  sign:  ^^  There 
shall  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  shall 
show  great  signs  and  wonders."  Here  it  is  intimated, 
that  as  the  great  catastrophe  should  approach,  these 
deceivers  would  multiply ;  and  that  they  would  pre- 
tend to  signs  and  miracles.  The  very  places  where 
they  would  appear,  and  whither  they  would  lead  their 
followers,  are  also  pointed  out.  ''If  they  shall  say 
unto  you,  Behold,  he  is  in  the  desert;  go  not  forth: 
behold,  he  is  in  the  secret  chambers;  believe  it 
not."t 

Now,  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that  until  the  day 
when  these  words  were  uttered,  there  had  been  no 
events  in  Jewish  history  in  any  manner  correspond- 
ing with  those  which  they  describe.  Two  years, 
however,  had  not  elapsed  before  their  fulfilment  be- 
gan. Simon  Magus,  very  soon  after  the  crucifixion, 
was  heard  boasting  himself  as  the  Son  of  Grod,  de- 
ceiving the  people  of  Samaria  with  sorceries ;  to  whom 
they  all  gave  heed,  saying.  This  man  is  the  great 
*  Matt.  24 : 4,  5.  t  Matt.  24 :  26. 


•I 


282  M4LVAINE-S  EVIDENCES. 

power  of  God.*  Another,  named  Dositheus,  a  Samar- 
itan, pretended  that  he  was  the  Christ  foretold  by 
Moses.  In  about  the  tenth  year  after  the  death  of 
Christ,  appeared  one  Theudas,  who  assured  the  peo- 
ple that  he  was  a  prophet,  promising  to  show  a  mir- 
acle in  dividing  the  waters  of  Jordan.^  ^'By  such 
speeches,"  says  Josephus,  in  the  very  words  of  the 
prophecy,   ^'he  deceived  many.^''^     As  we  approach 

(nearer  the  final  event,  A.  D.  b^)^  these  deceivers  mul- 
tiply. **  The  country  was  filled  with  impostors  who 
1^ deceived  the  people,"  and  '*  persuaded  them  to  fol- 
low them  into  the  wilderness;  where,  as  they  said, 
they  should  see  manifest  wonders  and  signs."^  Not 
only  were  the  people  thus  seduced  into  the  deserts^ 

♦Acts  8:9, 10. 

t  The  impostor  mentioned  above  must  not  be  confounded 
with  him  of  the  same  name,  spoken  of  by  Gamaliel,  Acts  5:36. 
There  were  two  noted  characters  of  the  name  of  Theudas. 
The  one  referred  to  by  Gamaliel  appeared  about  thirty  years 
prior  to  the  time  of  the  council  which  that  learned  Pharisee 
addressed.  But  he  was  a  mere  insurrectionist,  making  no  pre- 
tension to  any  of  the  honors  of  that  great  prophet  whom  the 
Jews  were  expecting.  The  person  referred  to  in  the  text  ap- 
peared in  Judea  in  the  time  of  Cuspius  Fadus  the  governor,  and 
professed  to  be  inspired,  to  be  a  prophet,  and  to  have  the  gift  of 
miracles.  Judas  of  Galilee,  or  the  Gaulonite.  mentioned  also 
by  Gamaliel,  was  a  political  partisan,  in  opposition  to  the  en- 
rolment made  by  Cyrenius  in  Judea,  whose  doctrine  was,  that 
the  Jews  were  free  and  should  acknowledge  no  dominion  but 
that  of  God.  Neither  he  nor  the  elder  Theudas  can,  with  any 
propriety,  be  numbered  among  ^' false  Christs"  or  "false  proph- 
ets," such  as  the  Saviour  spoke  of  in  the  prophecy  under  con- 
sideration.    See  Lardner,  vol.  1,  pp.  221-225. 

t  Josephus'  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  b.  20,  ch.  5,  sec.  1 . 


PROPHECY.  283 

but  also  into  "the  secret  chambers.^^  The  inner 
apartments  of  the  temple  were  the  secret  chambers 
referred  to  in  the  prophecy.  Josephus  relates  that  a 
great  multitude  whom  the  Roman  soldiers  destroyed 
in  the  '^ cloister s^^  of  the  temple,  had  been  led  there 
by  a  false  prophet,  who  had  made  a  public  proclama- 
tion that  very  day,  that  God  commanded  them  to  get 
upon  the  temple,  and  that  there  they  would  receive 
miraculous  signs  for  their  deliverance.  At  that  crisis, 
there  was  a  great  number  of  false  prophets."*  Thus 
have  we  all  the  particulars  of  the  prophecy,  so  far  as 
it  has  been  quoted :  many  false  Christs  and  prophets, 
deceiving  many,  pretending  to  signs  and  wonders, 
leading  their  followers  into  the  deserts  and  secret 
chambers,  and  multiplying  as  Ihe  destruction  drew 
near. 

2.  "  Ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars: 
see  that  ye  be  not  troubled ;  for  all  these  tilings  must 
come  to  pass,  but  the  end  is  not  yet.  For  nation 
shall  rise  against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  king- 
dom."^ At  this  time,  the  Jews  were  at  peace  among 
themselves  and  with  all  nations.  To  human  view, 
there  was  so  little  reason  to  expect  a  war,  that  even 
some  years  after,  when  the  emperor  Caligula  ordered 
his  statue  to  be  set  up  in  the  temple,  and  there  was 
danger  of  slaughter  on  account  of  the  resistance  of 
the  Jews,  Josephus  remarks,  that  **  some  of  them  could 
not  believe  the  stories  that  spoke  of  a  war."^  Never- 
theless, such  became  in  a  short  time  the  rumor  of 

*  Josephus'  Wars  of  the  Jews,  b.  6,  ch.  5,  sec.  2,  3. 

t  Matt.  24  :6,  7.  t  Wars,  etc.,  b.  2,  c.  10,  sec.  1. 


284  M'ILVAINE"S  EVIDENCES. 

war^  that  the  fields  remained  uncultivated  on  account 
of  the  public  anxiety.  The  country  was  soon  filled 
with  violence.  In  Alexandria,  Csesarea,  Damascus, 
Ptolemais,  Tyre,  and  almost  every  other  city  in  which 
many  Jews  and  heathens  were  mingled,  fierce  con- 
tentions arose,  and  dreadful  slaughter  ensued.  In  the 
words  of  the  Jewish  historian,  ''The  disorders  all 
over  Syria  were  terrible.  For  every  city  was  divided 
into  parties  armed  against  each  other ;  and  the  safety 
of  the  one  depended  on  the  destruction  of  the  other. 
The  days  were  spent  in  slaughter,  and  the  nights  in 
terrors."*  In  addition  to  these  calamities,  the  Jew- 
ish nation  rebelled  against  the  Romans;  Italy  was 
convulsed  with  contentions  for  the  empire ;  and  as  a 
proof  of  the  troublous  and  warlike  character  of  the 
period,  within  the  brief  space  of  two  years  four  em- 
perors of  Rome  sufTered  death.^ 

3.  Another  class  of  signs  was  predicted,  as  follows : 
"  There  shall  be  famines  and  pestilences  and  earth- 
quakes in  divers  places.^^^  These,  together  with  the 
signs  previously  mentioned,  the  Saviour  said  would 
be  ''the  beginning  of  sorrows."  There  came  a  fam- 
ine not  long  before  the  war,  which  extended  all  over 
the  country  of  the  Jews,  and  lasted  with  severity  for 
several  years.^  Both  before  and  after  this  there  were 
famines  in  Italy,  which  are  mentioned  by  historians  of 
those  days."  Pestilences  raged  in  various  places,  as  the 
full  time  for  Jerusalem's  cup  of  trembling  drew  nigh.lT 

*  Wars,b.  2,ch.  18,  sec.  1,2.  »  Ant.  b.  3,  ch.  15,  sec.  3. 
t  Keith  on  Prophecy.  ^  Lardner,  vol.  3,  p.  499. 
t  Matt.  24:7,  8. 

*  Acts  1 1 :  27-30;  Ant.  b.  20,  ch.  2,  sec.  6 ;  ch.  5,  sec.  2. 


PROPHECY.  285 

Josephus  speaks  of  one  at  Babylon.  Five  years  before 
the  destruction  of  the  holy  city,  there  was  a  great  mor- 
tality at  Rome,  while  various  parts  of  the  empire  were 
visited  with  similar  calamities.  Earthquakes  were 
also  among  the  signs  of  the  times.  Of  these,  the  hea- 
then historians,  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  Philostratus,  etc., 
speak  of  many.  Crete,  Italy,  Asia  Minor,  and  Judea 
were  visited  at  different  times,  and  some  of  them 
repeatedly,  with  earthquakes.*  Josephus  describes 
one  in  Judea,  as  so  extraordinary  in  its  awfulness, 
that  **  any  one  might  easily  conjecture  that  these  won- 
ders foreshowed  some  grand  calamities  that  were 
coming."^ 

4.  To  the  signs  already  mentioned,  we  find  in 
Luke's  account  of  these  prophecies  the  addition  of 
^^ fearful  sights,  and  great  signs  from  heaven?^ 
These  sights  and  signs  Josephus  sets  himself  to  the 
work  of  narrating  with  as  much  particularity  as  if  he 
had  been  specially  bent  upon  making  good  the  words 
of  Christ.  He  relates  that  just  before  the  desolating 
war,  **a  star  resembling  a  sword  stood  over  the  city, 
and  a  comet  that  continued  a  whole  year."  At  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread,  and  **at  the  ninth  hour  of 
the  night,  so  great  a  light  shone  round  the  altar  and 
the  holy  house,  that  it  appeared  to  be  bright  daytime ; 
which  light  lasted  for  half  an  hour."  "  The  eastern 
gate  of  the  inner  court  of  the  temple,  which  was  of 
brass  and  vastly  heavy,  and  had  been  with  difficulty 
shut  by  twenty  men,  and  had  bolts  fastened  very 
deep  into  the  firm  floor,  was  seen  to  be  opened  of  its 
*  Lardnei;  vol.  3,  p.  499.  t  Wars,  etc.,  b.  4,  c.  4^  sec.  5. 


888  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

own  accord  about  the  sixth  hour  of  the  night."  This 
the  learned  of  Jerusalem  understood  as  a  signal  of 
approaching  desolation.  Moreover,  ''before  sunset- 
ting,  chariots,  and  troops  of  soldiers  in  their  armor, 
were  seen  running  about  among  the  clouds,  and  sur- 
rounding cities."  ''At  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  as  the 
priests  were  going  by  night  into  the  inner  court  of  the 
temple,  they  felt  a  quaking,  and  heard  a  great  noise, 
and  after  that  they  heard  the  sound  as  of  a  multitude, 
saying,  '  Let  us  remove  hence.' "  But  the  sign  which 
Josephus  considered  the  most  impressive,  was  that  of 
a  man  named  Jesus,  who,  four  years  before  the  war, 
at  a  time  of  entire  peace,  having  come  to  the  feast  of 
tabernacles,  began  suddenly  to  cry  aloud,  "A  voice 
from  the  east — a  voice  from  the  west — a  voice  from 
the  four  winds — a  voice  against  Jerusalem  and  the 
holy  house — a  voice  against  the  bridegrooms  and  the 
brides;  and  a  voice  against  the  whole  people."  With 
this  cry  he  went  through  all  the  city  day  and  night. 
No  severity  of  punishment,  no  acts  of  kindness,  could 
silence  this  voice.  He  spoke  neither  good  nor  ill  to 
any,  whether  they  gave  him  food  or  scourging.  For 
seven  years  and  five  months  his  solemn  cry  contin- 
ued, until  its  warning  was  just  about  to  be  fulfilled. 
A  little  while  before  the  city  was  taken,  as  he  was 
going  round  upon  the  wall,  he  cried  with  his  utmost 
force,  "Woe,  woe  to  the  city  again,  and  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  to  the  holy  house;"  and  just  as  he  added, 
"woe  to  myself  also,"  a  stone  firom  one  of  the  engines 
killed  him  immediately.* 

*  Wars,  etc.,  b.  6,  ch.  5,  sec.  3. 


PROPHECY.  287 

However  incredible  the  narrative  of  these  signs 
may  seem  to  some,  it  is  not  a  little  in  its  confirma- 
tion that  the  Roman  historian  Tacitus,  speaking  of  the 
same  time  and  place,  says,  ''  There  were  many  prodi- 
gies presignifying  their  ruin,  which  were  not  to  be 
averted  by  all  the  sacrifices  and  vows  of  that  people. 
Armies  were  seen  fighting  in  the  air  with  brandished 
weapons.  A  fire  fell  upon  the  temple  from  the  clouds. 
The  doors  of  the  temple  were  suddenly  opened.  At 
the  same  time  there  was  a  loud  voice,  declaring  that 
the  gods  were  removing,  which  was  accompanied 
with  a  sound  as  of  a  multitude  going  out.  All  which 
things  were  supposed  by  some  to  portend  great  calam- 
ities."* Whether  all  these  things  did  really  take  place, 
or  whether  some  or  all  of  them  were  not  the  conceits 
of  superstitious  and  excited  minds,  I  shall  not  discuss, 
nor  is  the  question  at  all  material  to  our  present  ob- 
ject. Certain  it  is,  that  they  were  regarded  as  real- 
ities at  the  time,  and  consequently  were  in  effect 
''fearful  sights  and  great  signs  from  heaven"  to  the 
Jews,  whatever  they  may  have  been  in  reality.  It 
required  as  much  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy  to  predict 
that  the  Jews  should  believe  such  things  to  have 
occurred,  as  to  predict  any  thing  else  that  did  cer- 
tainly occur.  Whatever  we  may  conclude,  therefore, 
concerning  the  singularly  concurrent  testimony  of  the 
Jewish  and  Roman  historians,  the  prophecy  of  the 
Saviour  was  most  impressively  fulfilled. 

5.  From  the  calamities  of  the  nation  and  city, 
our  Lord  continued  his  prophecy  to  those  of  his  own 
•  Lardner,  ch.  3,  p.  613;  Tacit.  Hist.  b.  5,  ch.  9-13. 


288  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

followers:  *' Before  all  these,  they  shall  lay  their 
hands  on  you  and  persecute  you,  delivering  you  up 
to  the  synagogues  and  into  prisons,  being  brought 
before  kings  and  rulers  for  my  name's  sake."*  '^  They 
shall  kill  you ;  and  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  nations 
for  my  name's  sake."t  *'  I  will  give  you  a  mouth 
and  wisdom,  which  all  your  adversaries  shall  not  be 
able  to  gainsay  nor  resist."^  For  the  proof  of  the 
accomplishment  of  all  this,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
afford  abundant  evidence.  Remember  how  Saul 
made  havoc  of  the  church,  entering  into  every  house ; 
punishing  the  Christians  in  every  synagogue,  and 
persecuting  them  even  unto  strange  cities.  Peter 
and  John  were  delivered  to  councils.  Paul  was 
brought  before  kings.  The  former  were  also  impris- 
oned. Paul  and  Silas  were  not  only  imprisoned,  but 
beaten.*  There  was  given  them  indeed  a  wisdom 
which  their  adversaries  were  not  able  to  gainsay  nor 
resist.  The  very  discourses  of  Peter  that  caused  his 
persecution  subdued  thousands  into  obedience  to  the 
faith  of  Christ."  The  murderers  of  Stephen  were  not 
able  to  resist  the  wisdom  with  which  he  spoke.lT  The 
jailer  that  incarcerated  Paul  and  Silas  in  the  even- 
ing, was  their  convert  before  the  morning.**  Felix 
trembled,  and  Agrippa  was  almost  persuaded  to  be  a 
Christian,  under  the  speech  of  Paul.  Stephen  and 
James  were  put  to  death.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  none  of  the  original  apostles  or  evangelists,  but 

♦  Luke  21  :  12.  t  Matt.  24  :  9.  %  Luke  21  :  15. 

*  Acts  8:  3;  26:10,  11;  4:5;  18:12;  ch.  24,  25;  4:3. 

I  Acts  2  :  41.  IT  Acts  6  :  10.  **  Acts  16  :  32-34. 


PROPHECY.  289 

John,  died  a  natural  death.  Christians  were  counted 
as  the  filth  of  the  world,  being  literally  hated  for  the 
very  name  they  bore.  About  six  years  before  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  arose  the  tremendous  perse- 
cution under  Nero,  when  it  was  enough  that  any  one 
was  called  by  the  name  of  Christian  to  lead  him  to 
torture."  Tacitus  bears  witness  not  only  to  their 
exquisite  sufferings,  but  also  to  the  fact  that  they 
were  held  in  universal  hatred  on  account  of  their 
religion  and  name.* 

6.  *'  Then  shall  many  be  offended,  and  shall  betray 
one  another,  and  shall  hate  one  another ;  and  because 
iniquity  shall  abound,  the  love  of  many  shall  wax 
cold."^  The  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  in  his  epistles, 
complains  of  Demas  and  Phygellus  and  Hermogenes, 
and  many  others  in  Asia,  who  turned  away  from  him ; 
and  that  when  he  first  appeared  at  the  bar  of  Nero, 
*'no  man  stood  with  him,  but  all  forsook  him."^  And 
Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  persecution  by  Nero,  says, 
*'At  first,  those  who  were  seized  confessed  their  sect; 
and  then,  by  their  indication,  a  great  multitude  were 
convicted."^ 

7.  Immediately  after  the  prediction  of  the  out- 
ward persecutions  and  internal  defections  by  which 
the  servants  of  Christ  were  to  be  troubled,  there  fol- 
lows this  remarkable  prophecy:  *'  This  gospel  of  the 
kingdom  shall  he  preached  in  all  the  world,  for  a 
witness  unto  all  nations;  and  then  shall  the  end 

*  Lardner,  vol.  3,  p.  498;  Tac.  An.  book  15,  chap.  44. 
t  Mat.  24 :  10-12.  t  2  Tim.  1:15;  4:16. 

*  Tac.  Ann.  book  15. 

Evidences.  13 


290  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

come?'^*  The  end  referred  to  was  that  of  the  Jewish 
polity,  which  entirely  ceased  at  the  destruction  of  the 
Jewish  metropolis  and  temple.  Jesus  prophesied 
that  before  this,  that  is,  in  forty  years  from  the  time 
when  he  uttered  these  words,  the  gospel  would  be 
preached  in  all  the  world.  Of  all  that  was  then  in 
futurity,  what  could  have  been  more  improbable,  or  to 
human  view  more  impossible,  than  this  ?  The  gospel 
was  then  received  but  by  a  handful  of  unlettered 
Jews.  In  a  few  days  after,  its  Author  was  crucified 
as  a  malefactor,  his  disciples  were  scattered  and  dis- 
couraged, his  enemies  triumphant,  and  the  gospel 
seemed  at  an  end.  When  the  infant  church  was 
gathered  together  in  Jerusalem,  immediately  after 
the  ascension  of  its  Head,  the  number. of  the  disciples 
that  could  be  collected  was  but  one  hundred  and 
twenty.  What  but  the  omniscience  of  God  could 
have  foreseen  that  in  less  than  forty  years  that  church 
would  be  extended  into  all  countries  of  the  known 
world  ?  But  thus  it  came  to  pass  :  ^'  It  appears  from 
the  writers  of  the  history  of  the  church,  that  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  the  gospel  was  not  only 
preached  in  the  Lesser  Asia  and  Greece  and  Italy, 
the  great  theatres  of  action  then  in  the  world,  but 
was  likewise  propagated  as  far  northward  as  Scythia, 
as  far  southward  as  Ethiopia,  as  far  eastward  as  Par- 
thia  and  India,  as  far  westward  as  Spain  and  Brit- 
ain."t  The  epistles  of  Paul,  in  the  New  Testament, 
were  directed  to  churches  then  flourishing  in  Rome, 
Cprinth,  Galatia, /Ephesus,]  Philippi,  Colosse,  and 
•  Matt,  24  :  14.  t  Newton,  ch.  2,  p.  257,  258. 


PROPHECY.  291 

Thessalonica.  In  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  he 
asserts  that  the  Christian  faith  was  then,  ten  years 
before  "the  end,"  "spoken  of  throughout  the  whole 
world."*  To  the  Colossi ans,  about  three  years  after, 
he  asserts  that  the  gospel  had  been  "preached  to 
every  creature  which  is  under  heaven;"^  meaning, 
that  to  all  nations,  without  distinction,  it  had  been 
published.  Tacitus  bears  witness,  that  in  the  sixth 
year  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  during 
Nero's  persecution,  the  religion  of  Christ  had  not  only 
extended  over  Judea,  but  through  Rome  also;  and 
that  its  followers  were  therf  so^  numerous,  that  "a 
vast  multitude"  were  apprehended  and  condemned  to 
martyrdom."^  Thus,  impossible  as  such  an  event 
must  have  seemed  at  the  time  when  this  prophecy 
was  uttered,  the  end  did  not  come  until  the  gospel 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  was  preached  "  in  all  the 
world."  We  know  not  which  should  be  considered 
the  most  impressive  evidence  that  God  was  with  the 
gospel,  this  wonderful  fact ^  brought  to  pass  by  such 
means,  and  in  the  face  of  such  universal  and  deadly 
opposition,  or  the  prophetic  eye  by  which  the  Saviour 
predicted,  in  circumstances  so  unpromising,  that  thus 
it  would  be. 

8.  The  next  prophetic  sign  brings  us  almost  to  the 
awful  catastrophe.  "When  ye  shall  see  Jerusalem 
compassed  with  armies ;"  or,  as  the  expression  is  in 
Matthew,  "When  ye  shall  see  the  abomination  of 
desolation  stand  in  the  holy  place,"  "  then  know  that 
the  desolation  thereof  is  nigh."     "  Then    let  them 

•  Rom.  1:8.  +  Colos.  1  :  23.  t  Tac.  Ann.  b.  15. 


292  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

which  be  in  Judea  flee  into  the  mountains ;  let  him 
which  is  on  the  house-top  not  come  down  to  take  any 
thing  out  of  his  house ;  neither  let  him  which  is  in 
the  field  return  back  to  take  his  clothes."* 

By  "the  abomination  of  desolation  standing  in 
the  holy  place,"  Matthew  expresses  the  same  thing 
as  when  Luke  speaks  of  Jerusalem  being  *' compassed 
with  armies."  The  standards  of  the  Roman  armies 
had  on  them  images  to  which  idolatrous  worship  was 
paid,  and  which  were  therefore  an  abomination  to  the 
Jews.  On  this  account,  we  read  that  a  Roman  gen- 
eral, when  conducting  his  army  through  Judea  tow- 
ards Arabia,  was  besought  by  the  principal  Jews  to 
lead  it  another  way.^  "  Every  idol  and  every  image," 
says  Chrysostom,  **was  called  an  abomination  among 
the  Jews."  These  idolatrous  ensigns  being  connected 
with  a  desolating  army,  constituted  them  'Hhe  abom- 
ination of  desolation  ;"  and  when  the  Roman  army 
planted  its  standards  around  the  holy  city,  the  abom- 
ination of  desolation  literally  stood  ''  in  the  holy  place," 
or  on  holy  ground.  This  the  Saviour  predicted.  It 
was  to  be  the  signal  to  Christians  that  the  desolation 
of  Jerusalem  was  nigh.  Then  they  were  to  escape 
with  haste  to  the  mountains.  The  warning  implied, 
that  even  after  the  city  was  encompassed  with  armies 
they  would  have  an  opportunity  of  escape ;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  that  the  opportunity  would  be  brief. 
All  this  came  to  pass.  One  would  suppose  that  the 
Christians,  in  having  delayed  till  the  city  was  sur- 
rounded with  a  besieging  host,  would  thus  have 
*  Luke  21  :  20 ;  Mat.  24  :  15-18.       t  Ant.  b.  18,  ch.  6,  sec.  3. 


PROPHECY.  293 

waited  till  all  escape  was  out  off.  But  a  remarkable 
providence  took  care  that  they  should  await  the  sign, 
and  yet  obey  the  admonition  to  flee.  Cestius  Gallus 
the  Roman  general,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  besieged  the  city,  took  possession  of  the  suburbs, 
encamped  over  against  the  royal* palace,  and  might 
easily,  Josephus  says,  have  got  within  the  walls  and 
won  the  city.  Indeed,  "  many  of  the  principal  men 
were  about  to  open  the  gates  to  him."  But  although 
the  abomination  of  desolation  was  thus  in  the  holy 
place,  the  followers  of  Christ  were  there  also.  The 
time  of  the  end,  therefore,  was  not  yet  come.  An 
opportunity  must  be  found  for  them  to  flee.  The 
Lord  sees  to  this.  Just  as  the  city  was  ready  to  open 
its  gates  to  the  Roman  chief,  *'he  recalled  his  soldiers 
from  the  place  without  having  received  any  disgrace, 
and  retired  from  the  city  without  any  reason  in  the 
world?'^  This  the  Jewish  historian  expressly  ascribes 
to  a  special  interposition  of  Providence,  though  he 
knew  not  its  object.  It  could  be  accounted  for  on  no 
military  or  prudential  considerations.  Josephus  re- 
lates that  many  principal  men  of  Jerusalem  embraced 
this  opportunity  to  depart  from  the  city  as  from  a 
sinking  ship.*  A  short  time  after,  when  the  Roman 
armies  were  again  approaching  with  the  abomination 
of  desolation  towards  the  holy  place,  our  historian 
states  that  a  great  multitude  jied  to  the  mountains.^ 
Among  these  were  probably  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
But  we  learn  more  certainly  from  ecclesiastical  his- 
torians of  the  early  centuries,  that  at  this  crisis  all 
*  Wars,  b.  2,  ch.  20,  sec.  1.       t  Ibid.  b.  4,  ch.  8,  sec.  2. 


8d4  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  followers  of  Christ  took  refuge  in  the  mountainous 
regions  beyond  Jordan,  thus  obeying  the  prophetic 
warning  of  their  Lord ;  so  that  there  is  nowhere  any 
mention  of  a  single  Christian  having  perished  in  the 
siege  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem.*  But  as  the 
Saviour  forewarned  them,  what  they  were  to  do  they 
had  to  do  quickly.  For  as  soon  as  Jerusalem  was 
again  encompassed  with  armies,  it  was  surrounded 
entirely  with  a  wall,  so  that,  in  the  words  of  the  his- 
torian, *'  all  hope  of  escaping  was  now  cut  off  from 
the  Jews."^ 

Who  the  enemy  would  be,  and  what  the  power 
and  fury  and  universal  spread  of  his  desolations,  the 
Saviour  foretold  by  the  use  of  this  proverbial  expres- 
sion, '' Wheresoever  the  carcass  is,  there  will  the 
eagles  be  gathered  together."*  Prophecy  often  speaks 
a  great  deal  in  a  few  words.  The  carcass  was  the 
Jewish  nation,  given  over,  as  thoroughly  corrupt  and 
forsaken  of  God,  to  be  devoured  as  by  birds  of  prey. 
An  army  is  distinguished  by  its  banners.  They  con- 
stitute its  characteristic  insignia.  The  banners  of 
the  Roman  army  were  surmounted  by  eagles,  em- 
blems of  strength,  of  swiftness,  and  ferocity.  By 
these  the  Saviour  described  it  as  that  which  would 
desolate  Jerusalem.  Literally,  wherever  the  carcass 
was,  these  eagles  were  gathered.  Josephus  testifies 
that  all  parts  of  the  land  participated  in  the  desola- 
tions of  Jerusalem.^    The  legions  of  Rome,  like  flocks 

*  Lardner,  vol.  3,  p.  507 ;  Newton,  ch.  2,  p.  266. 

t  Wars,  b.  5,  ch.  12,  sec.  2,  3. 

t  Matl.  24  :  28.  *  Wars,  b.  4,  ch.  8,  sec.  1 . 


PROPHECY.  295 

of  birds  of  prey,  flew  from  city  to  city,  spreading 
devastation  and  slaughter  wherever  they  planted 
their  standards.  With  eagle-swiftness  they  descended 
upon  the  unprepared  population  ;  with  eagle- strength 
they  triuuiphed  over  every  opposition;  with  eagle- 
fierceness  they  devoured  and  tore  in  pieces,  sparing 
neither  age  nor  sex,  sending  into  hopeless  slavery  the 
few  who  escaped  the  sword.  The  melancholy  record 
of  Jotapata  relates  that  all  its  population  were  slain, 
but  infants  and  women.  These  were  carried  into 
bondage.  The  rest,  forty  thousand,  were  slaughtered. 
Joppa  was  demolished ;  the  neighboring  villages  were 
destroyed  ;  the  whole  region  was  laid  waste.  Of  all 
the  population  of  Gamala,  two  women  alone  escaped. 
Here,  not  even  infants  were  spared  the  sword.  Such 
was  the  extreme  awfulness  of  the  slaughter,  that 
many  Jews  in  preference  threw  their  children,  their 
wives,  and  themselves,  from  the  hill  on  wliich  the 
citadel  was  buiH,  into  the  deep  abyss  below.  The 
number  that  perished  thus  was  computed  at  five 
thousand.  These  are  but  a  few  cases  out  of  the 
many  which  illustrate  the  perfect  accomphshment  of 
the  prediction  before  us.* 

9.  But  our  Lord  foretold  not  only  the  enemy  by 
whom  Jerusalem  would  be  destroyed,  but  the  means 

*  How  minutely  were  the  enemy  and  his  desolations  de- 
scribed by  Moses  as  much  as  one  thousand  five  hundred  years 
bcfoVe  the  war.  ''The  Lord  shall  bring  a  nation  against  thee 
from  far,  from  the  end  of  the  earth,  as  swift  as  the  eagle  flioth ; 
a  nation  whose  tongue  thou  shalt  not  understand;  a  nation  of 
fierce  countenance,  which  shall  not  regard  the  i)erson  of  the  old, 
nor  show  favor  to  the  young :  and  he  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  tliy 


296  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

by  which  it  would  be  taken.  "  The  days  shall  come 
upon  thee,  that  thine  enemies  shall  cast  a  trench 
about  thee,  and  compass  thee  round,  and  keep  thee  in 
on  every  side."*  A  trench  and  a  wall  or  embankment 
always  go  together  in  military  operations.  Both 
were  certainly  intended  here.  But  it  was  exceed- 
ingly improbable  that  such  a  measure  would  be 
resorted  to  in  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  The  nature  of 
the  ground,  and  the  great  extent  of  the  city,  rendered 
it  extremely  difficult.  It  had  never  been  attempted 
in  the  .previous  sieges  of  the  same  place.  It  was  not 
necessary,  because,  had  the  Roman  general  been  con- 
tent to  wait  a  little,  the  famine  and  the  contending 
factions  within  the  city  would  soon  have  delivered  it 
into  his  possession.  After  all,  it  was  contrary  to  the 
advice  of  his  chief  men,  and  was  adopted  only  be- 
cause a  more  protracted  siege  would  have  been  less 
glorious.  The  higher  cause  however  was,  that  he 
was  God's  instrument  unwittingly  to  fulfil  the  words 
of  Christ.  Titus  must  confirm  the  prophetic  char- 
acter of  Jesus.  By  building  a  wall  about  Jerusalem, 
he  was  to  build  up  the  defence  of  the  gospel.  The 
city  was  therefore  literally  compassed  round,  and  its 
inhabitants  were  kept  in  on  every  side  by  a  wall  and 

cattle,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  land,  until  thou  be  destroyed :  which 
also  shall  not  leave  thee  either  corn,  wine,  or  oil,  or  the  increase 
of  thy  kine,  or  flocks  of  thy  sheep,  until  he  have  destroyed  thee. 
And  he  shall  besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates,  until  thy  high  and 
fenced  walls  come  down,  wherein  thou  trustedst,  throughout 
all  thy  land ;  and  he  shall  besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates  through- 
out all  thy  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee.'' 
Dcut.  28  :  49-52. 
*  Luke  19:43. 


PROPHECY.  297 

trench  put  up  by  the  troops  of  Titus,  and  measuring 
about  five  miles  in  circumference.  Josephus  is  very- 
particular  in  stating  precisely  the  direction  of  the 
wall  in  its  whole  circuit.* 

10.  "  These  be  the  days  of  vengeance ^''^  said  the 
Lord  ;  ^^for  then  shall  be  great  tribulation^  such  as 
tvas  not  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this 
time,  no,  7ior  ever  shall  be.^^^  Days  of  vengeance 
indeed  they  were,  when  all  that  was  written  and 
threatened  in  Moses  and  the  prophets  was  fulfilled. 
As  if  Josephus  had  written  with  the  very  words  of 
the  Saviour  in  view,  he  bears  record  that  in  his 
opinion  **  no  other  city  ever  suffered  such  miseries ; 
nor  was  there  ever  a  generation  more  fruitful  in 
wickedness,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world."  "  It 
appears  to  me  that  the  misfortunes  of  all  men  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world,  if  they  be  compared  to 
these  of  the  Jews,  are  not  so  considerable."  **  For  in 
reality  it  was  God  who. condemned  the  whole  nation, 
and  turned  every  course  that  was  taken  for  their 
preservation  to  their  destruction."  It  is  impossible 
to  describe  the  truth  in  this  case.  "  The  multitude 
of  those  who  perished,"  says  our  historian,  "  exceeded 
all  the  destructions  that  man  or  God  ever  brought  on, 
the  world."*  At  the  commencement  of  the  siege,  im- 
mense multitudes  having  come  up  from  all  parts  of 
the  country  to  the  feast  of  the  passover,  the  nation, 

*  Wars,  etc.,  b.  5,  ch.  12,  sec.  2. 
t  Luke  21  :22;  Matt.  24:21. 

t  Wars,  etc.,  b.  5,  ch.  10,  sec.  5;  Preface  to  Wars,  sec.  4; 
Wars,  b.  6,  ch.  13,  sec.  4;  b.  6,  ch.  9,  sec.  4. 
13* 


298  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

literally,  was  crowded  into  Jerusalem ;  so  that  the 
city  was  supposed  to  have  in  it  upwards  of  two 
million  seven  hundred  thousand  souls.  The  miseries 
endured  by  this  imprisoned  multitude  are  minutely 
detailed  in  the  history  of  the  siege.  Famine  com- 
menced, and  numbered  its  thousands  of  unburied 
and  loathsome  victims.  The  destroyer  raged  so 
widely  that  the  people  devoured  their  shoes  and 
girdles,  the  soldiers  the  leather  on  their  shields. 
Wisps  of  old  straw  were  turned  into  food.  That 
which  before  they  could  not  endure  to  see,  they  now 
consented  to  eat.  United  to  these  desolations  were 
the  remorseless  cruelties  of  contending  factions.  The 
city  was  filled  with  robbers,  who  divided  its  popula- 
tion into  parties  more  destructive  than  all  the  soldiery 
of  the  besiegers.  Filled  with  rage  and  instigated  by 
hunger,  they  alike  refused  to  be  at  peace  with  each 
other,  or  to  capitulate  to  the  common  enemy.  They 
robbed  the  temple,  slew  the  priests  at  the  altar,  and 
defiled  the  sanctuary  with  a  sea  of  blood.  To  keep 
each  other  from  food,  they  fired  storehouses  containing 
provisions  for  a  siege  of  many  years.  Whenever  any 
corn  appeared,  bands  of  robbers  instantly  seized  it. 
They  searched  every  house  in  which  they  suspected 
there  was  food.  Parents  snatched  it  from  their  chil- 
dren, children  from  the  mouths  of  their  parents. 
There  was  a  lady  of  high  birth  and  much  wealth, 
who  had  come  from  the  country,  and  was  kept  in 
Jerusalem  by  the  siege.  All  her  effects,  and  all  the 
food  she  had  saved  for  herself  and  children,  had  been 
taken  by  the  prowling  bands  that  continually  ranged 


PROPHECY.  299 

the  streets  for  prey.  By  imprecations  and  reproaches 
she  endeavored  in  vain  to  provoke  them  to  take  her 
life  as  well  as  bread.  At  last  she  prepared  a  feast. 
Keen  hunger  found  out  a  lamb.  A  mother's  despera- 
tion slew  and  served  it.  Having  consumed  a  part, 
the  rest  was  concealed.  The  smell  of  food  soon 
brought  in  the  wolves.  They  threatened  instant 
death  unless  she  discovered  it.  With  bitter  irony 
she  assured  them  that  a  fine  portion  had  been  saved 
for  them,  and  then  uncovered  what  remained  of  the 
lamb.  It  was  the  half-eaten  body  of  her  infant  son. 
Struck  motionless  with  horror,  they  would  not  par- 
take of  it.  Then  she  upbraided  them  as  pretending 
to  more  tenderness  than  a  woman,  and  more  com- 
passion than  a  mother.  All  the  city,  and  the  whole 
Roman  camp,  were  filled  with  astonishment  at  this 
horrid  evidence  of  the  reigning  wretchedness ;  so  that 
the  dead  were  envied  for  having  escaped  the  sight  of 
such  miseries.*  But  the  woe  went  on.  The  prisoners 
taken  in  endeavoring  to  desert  the  city  were  nailed 
on  crosses  by  the  Roman  soldiers,  '*some  one  way, 

•  How  exactly  did  Moses,  at  least  fifteen  hundred  years 
before,  depict  this  very  scene.  He  described  even  the  rank, 
quality,  and  habits  of  the  unhappy  woman.  "  The  tender  and 
delicate  woman  among  you,  which  would  not  adventure  to  set 
the  sole  of  her  foot  upon  the  ground  for  delicateness  and  tender- 
ness, her  eye  shall  be  evil  toward  the  husband  of  her  bosom, 
and  toward  her  son,  and  toward  her  daughter,  and  toward  her 
young  one  that  cometh  out  from  between  her  feet,  and  toward 
her  children  which  she  shall  bear :  for  she  shall  eat  them  for 
want  of  all  things  secretly  in  the  siege  and  straitness  where- 
with thine  enemy  shall  distress  thee  in  thy  gates."  Deut. 
28 :  56,  57. 


300  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

some  another,  as  it  were  in  jest,"  around  the  outside 
of  the  walls,  ^'  till  so  great  was  the  number,  that 
room  was  wanting  for  crosses,  and  crosses  were  want- 
ing for  bodies.''*  Thus  had  the  Jews,  forty  years 
before,  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory  without  the  walls, 
with  cruel  jesting  and  bitter  mockery.^  Those  who 
continued  within  the  city  took  refuge  in  caverns, 
aqueducts,  sewers,  and  other  secret  places,  to  escape 
from  one  another.  Titus,  as  he  beheld  the  dead 
bodies  that  had  been  thrown  from  the  walls  into  the 
valleys,  ''  lifted  up  his  hands  to  heaven,  and  called 
God  to  witness  that  this  was  not  his  doing."*  The 
number  of  those  who  perished  during  these  **  days  of 
vengeance,"  is  computed  by  Josephus  at  upwards  of 
one  million  three  hundred  thousand  ;  and  of  these,  one 
million  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  were  of  Je- 
rusalem, besides  ninety-seven  thousand  carried  into 
slavery,  and  an  innumerable  multitude  who  perished 
uncounted  in  various  places,  through  famine,  banish- 
ment, and  other  miseries.*  Add  to  this  destruction 
of  life,  the  complete  ruin  of  their  holy  city  and  mag- 
nificent temple,  dearer  to  the  Jews  than  life;  add, 
moreover,  the  universal  desolation  and  almost  depop- 
ulation of  Judea,  and  you  will  find  no  difficulty  in 
interpreting  the  Saviour's  prediction  of  ^*  a  txibulation 
such  as  was  not  from  the  beginning  of  the  world."  It 
was  when  our  compassionate  Redeemer  had  all  this 
in  full  prospect,  that  "he  beheld  the  city"  from  the 

*  Wars,  etc.  b.  6,  ch.  3,  sec.  4;  b.  5,  ch.  11,  sec.  1. 

t  "His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  children." 

t  Wars,  etc.,  b.  5,  ch.  12,  sec.  4.        5  Lardner,  vol.  3,  p.  529. 


i»Ku?Hh(Jir.  301 

mount  of  Olives,  '^  and  wept  over  it,  saying.  If  thou 
hadst  known,  even  thou,  in  this  thy  day,  the  things 
that  make  for  thy  peace !  but  now  they  are  hid  from 
thine  eyes."*  How  did  the  anticipation  of  all  this 
misery  affect  him,  when,  as  he  was  going  to  his 
cross,  he  turned  to  the  women  who  wept  and  wailed 
because  of  him,  and  said,  **  Daughters  of  Jerusalem, 
weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  yourselves,  and  for  your 
children  ;  for  behold,  the  days  are  coming,  in  the  which 
they  shall  say,  Blessed  are  the  barren,  and  the  wombs 
that  never  bare,  and  the  paps  which  never  gave  suck. 
Then  shall  they  begin  to  say  to  the  mountains,  Fall 
on  us ;  and  to  the  hills.  Cover  us."^  Who  can  help 
reflecting  here  upon  that  solemn  question,  "  What 
shall  the  end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of 
God  ?» 

11.  We  come  now  to  the  work  of  destruction, 
which  forms  the  most  remarkable  particular  in  this 
wonderful  prophecy.  The  ruin  of  the  city  was  fore- 
told in  these  words :  **  They  shall  lay  thee  even  with 
the  ground^  and  thy  children  within  thee :  and  they 
shall  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon  another, "^"^^ 
The  ruin  of  the  temple  was  foretold  as  follows.  As 
the  disciples  were  showing  to  Jesus  the  stupendous 
buildings  of  the  temple,  he  answered,  **  See  ye  not  all 
these  things?  Verily  I  say  unto  you^  there  shall  not 
be  left  here  one  stone  upon  another^  that  shall  not  be 
thrown  doicn^^  Most  wonderfully  was  the  spirit  of 
prophecy  manifested  in  these  words.     Every  thing 

*  Luke  19  :  42.  t  Luke  23  :  28-30. 

t  Luke  19:44.  ^  Matt.  24:  2. 


302  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

conspired  to  make  the  events  appear  improbable,  and 
to  prevent  their  occurrence  when  the  time  predicted 
had  arrived.  Jerusalem  v^as  surrounded  with  three 
massive  walls  of  immense  strength,  rendering  its  gar- 
rison almost  unassailable  except  by  famine,  or  pesti- 
lence, or  internal  discord.*  Never  were  men  more 
perfectly  devoted  to  the  defence  of  a  city  than  those 
of  Jerusalem.  None  cared  for  life  at  the  expense  of 
her  ruin.  The  garrison  was  ten  times  the  number 
of  the  besiegers.  It  was,  therefore,  exceedingly  im- 
probable that  the  city  would  even  be  entered  by  the 
Romans.  Such  was  the  testimony  of  Titus  as  he 
looked  round  upon  its  towers.  ^'  We  have  certainly," 
said  he,  **had  God  for  our  helper  in  this  war.  It  is 
God  who  has  ejected  the  Jews  out  of  these  fortifica- 
tions. For  what  could  the  hands  of  men,  or  any 
machines,  do  towards  throwing  down  such  fortifica- 
tions ?"^  But  it  was  equally  improbable,  even  if  the 
city  were  taken,  that  such  complete  destruction  would 
be  made  of  all  therein.  Think  of  the  difficulty  of 
completely  destroying  such  an  immense  extent  of 
triple  wall,  and  of  buildings  within.  Think  of  the 
temple:  what  a  pile  to  be  laid  low!  Its  walls 
enclosed  more  than  nineteen  acres ;  that  of  the  east- 
ern front  rose  to  a  height  of  nearly  eight  hundred 
feet  from  its  base  in  the  valley  beneath.  In  this  and 
the  other  walls  the  stones  were  immense,  the  largest 

*  Gibbon,  speaking  of  the  strength  of  Jerusalem  at  this  time, 
says,  '^  The  craggy  ground  might  supersede  the  necessity  of 
fortificationSj  and  her  walls  and  towers  would  have  fortified  the 
most  accessible  plain.''     Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  8,  ch.  58,  p.  144. 

t  Wars,  b.  6,  ch.  9,  sec.  1. 


PROPHECY.  303 

measuring  sixty-five  feet  in  length,  eight  in  height, 
and  ten  in  breadth.  How  great  the  difficulty  of  a 
thorough  levelling  of  such  a  structure,  even  under 
the  instigation  of  the  strongest  motive!  But  what 
motive  was  likely  to  excite  the  Romans  to  such  de- 
struction? They  prided  themselves  upon  a  venera- 
tion for  the  arts,  and  upon  the  sacred  care  with 
which,  in  all  their  conquests,  the  monuments  of 
architectural  taste  were  protected.  The  temple  was 
emphatically  such  a  monument.  The  immensity  of 
its  walls,  its  splendid  gates  and  beautiful  marble 
colonnades,  the  glory  of  its  golden  sanctuary,  the 
grandeur  of  its  whole  appearance,  and  all  its  associa- 
tions of  antiquity  and  of  sacredness,  constituted  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem  precisely  such  an  object  as  Ro- 
man commanders  had  always  gloried  in  preserving 
from  the  desolations  of  conquest.  Even  barbarians 
were  used  to  spare  such  monuments  in  their  march 
of  devastation.  Genseric,  when,  with  his  Moors  and 
Vandals,  he  had  sacked  the  city  of  Rome,  spoiled  her 
wealth,  and  carried  away  the  ornaments  of  her  tem- 
ples and  capitol,  but  spared  her  noble  structures  ;* 
and  to  this  day,  after  all  the  scenes  of  war  that  have 
raged  through  her  streets,  the  pillar  of  Trajan,  the 
triumphal  arch  of  Titus,  the  unmutilat-ed  Pantheon, 
and  the  noble  Coliseum,  with  numerous  other  monu- 
ments of  art,  attest  the  ancient  glory  of  the  mistress 
of  the  world.  How  often  have  hostile  armies  filled 
the  streets  of  Athens,  and  hordes  of  Gothic  barbarians 
encamped  amidst  her  sanctuaries ;  and  yet  the  beau- 
*  Gibbon,  vol.  5. 


304  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tiful  temple  of  Theseus  is  scarcely  injured  as  a  model 
of  architecture,  and  the  Parthenon,  though  defaced 
and  robbed,  remains  a  noble  example  still  of  the 
grandeur  and  purity  of  Athenian  taste  in  the  age  of 
Phidias  and  Pericles.  How  improbable  then  must  it 
have  seemed  to  one  beholding  the  temple  in  the  days 
of  our  Lord,  that  Romans  should  lay  it  even  with 
the  ground.  Much  more  improbable,  had  the  culti- 
vated taste,  and  the  mild,  amiable,  and  humane  dis- 
position of  Titus,  their  commander,  been  anticipated. 
Still  more  improbable,  when  it  is  remembered  how 
strongly  he  was  bent  upon  saving  the  city  and  temple 
from  destruction ;  how  he  employed  all  the  means  in 
his  power  to  induce  the  Jews  to  surrender  before 
such  extremities  were  necessary.*  When  he  had 
reached  the  temple,  and  saw  the  danger  it  was  in  of 
being  sacrificed  to  the  obstinacy  of  its  defenders  and 
the  rage  of  his* own  soldiers,  he  was  "deeply  affect- 
ed," and  appealed  to  the  gods,  to  his  army,  and  to  the 
Jews,  that  he  did  not  force  them  to  defile  the  holy 
house.  '*  If,"  said  he,  "  you  will  change  the  place 
whereon  you  will  fight,  no  Roman  shall  either  come 
near  your  sanctuary,  or  offer  any  affront  to  it ;  nay, 
I  will  endeavor  to  preserve  your  holy  house,  whet^her 
you  will  or  not."t  But  the  Lord  of  that  temple  had 
said,  "  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate." 
God  would  not  suffer  the  prophetic  words  of  his  Son 
to  return  unto  him  void.  Now,  therefore,  even  the 
authority  of  Titus  was  of  no  avail  with  his  troops. 

*  Wars,  etc.,  b.  5,  ch.8,  sec.  1 ;  ch.  9,  sec.  2;  ch.  11,  sec.  2; 
b.  6,  ch.  2,  sec.  1.  t  Ibid.,  b.  6,  ch.  2,  sec.  4. 


PROPHECY.  305 

Now  the  discipline  of  the  Roman  legion  was  broken 
up,  that  all  that  was  written  might  be  fulfilled. 
When  the  fire  first  reached  the  temple,  their  com- 
mander dispatched  a  force  to  extinguish  it.  As  it 
broke  out  again,  he  again  used  his  authority  to  save 
the  edifice.  A  soldier,  disobeying  the  will  of  his  gen- 
eral, threw  fire  into  the  golden  window  of  the  inner 
sanctuary.  At  this,  Titus,  followed  by  all  his  chief 
ofl[icers,  rushed  to  the  place,  and  by  voice  and  gesture 
and  force  exerted  himself  most  earnestly  to  prevail 
with  his  troops  to  spare  the  building.  He  ordered  a 
centurion  to  punish  the  disobedient.  But  neither 
his  threatenings  nor  persuasions  could  arrest  their 
fury.  At  last  a  soldier,  taking  advantage  of  his  ab- 
sence, when  he  had  gone  out  of  the  sanctuary  to 
restrain  the  others,  *'  threw  fire  upon  the  holy  gate 
in  the  dark,  whereby  the  flame  burst  out  from  within 
the  holy  house  immediately."*  And  thus  was  it  de- 
voured by  the  fire.  And  now  orders  were  given  to 
demolish  to  the  foundation  the  whole  city  and  temple. 
Nothing  was  spared  of  the  former  but  three  towers, 
and  so  much  of  the  wall  as  was  required  for  a  shelter 
to  the  garrison  to  be  stationed  there.  "As  for  all 
the  rest  of  the  whole  circumference  of  the  city,  it 
was  so  thoroughly  laid  even  with  the  ground,  by 
those  who  dug  it  up  to  the  foundation,  that  there  was 
nothing  left  to  make  those  who  came  thither  believe 
it  had  ever  been  inhabited."^  In  quest  of  plunder, 
the  soldiers  literally  turned  up  the  ground  on  which 
the  city  and  temple  had  stood,  searching  the  sewers 
*  Wars.  b.  6,  ch.  4,  sec.  2-5,  etc.      t  Ibid.  b.  7,  ch.  1;  sec.  1. 


306  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

and  aqueducts.  Last  of  all,  it  is  related  by  the  Jew- 
ish Talmud  and  Maimonides,  that  a  captain  of  the 
army  of  Titus,  Terentius  Rufus,  "  did  with  a  plough- 
share tear  up  the  foundations  of  the  temple."*  "•  A 
ploughshare,"  says  Gibbon,  "  was  drawn  over  the 
consecrated  ground,  as  a  sign  of  perpetual  interdic- 
tion." Thus  literally  fulfilling  that  prophecy  of  Mi- 
cah,  *' Therefore  shall  Zion  for  your  sake  be  ploughed 
as  a  field,  and  Jerusalem  become  heaps,  and  the  moun- 
tain of  the  house  as  the  high  places  of  the  forest."^ 
How  forcibly  is  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  the  Saviour's 
prediction  illustrated  in  the  speech  of  Eleazer  to  a 
remnant  of  Jews  in  the  city  of  Masada:  "Where  is 
now  that  great  city,  fortified  by  so  many  walls  and 
fortresses  and  towers,  which  could  hardly  contain  the 
instruments  prepared  for  the  war,  and  had  so  many 
ten  thousands  of  men  to  defend  it  ?  Demolished  to 
the  very  foundations,  and  hath  nothing  left  but  the 
camp  of  the  destroyers  among  its  ruins ;  some  unfor- 
tunate old  men  also  lie  upon  the  ashes  of  the  temple, 
and  a  few  women  are  there  preserved  alive  by  the 
enemy  for  our  bitter  shame  and  reproach."* 

12.  But  the  prophecy  of  our  Lord  did  not  end  with 
the  destruction  of  the  city  and  of  the  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical polity  of  the  Jews.  His  omniscient  eye  folr 
lowed  the  unhappy  race  in  their  subsequent  disper- 
sions and  afflictions.  "  Thep  shall  fall  by  the  edge 
of  the  sivord,  and  shall  be  led  away  captive  into  all 
nations!'''^     How  many  fell  by  the  edge  of  the  sword, 

*  WTiitby  on  Matt.  24  :  2.  t  Micah  3:12. 

%  Wars,  b.  7,  ch.  8,  sec.  7.  *  Luke  21 :  24. 


PROPHECY.  307 

in  fulfilment  of  these  words,  I  need  not  state.  Blood 
flowed  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  like  a  river. 
But  many  who  escaped  the  sword  were  led  away 
captive  into  various  parts  of  the  earth.  Before  the 
city  was  taken,  it  is  related  that  an  *'  immense  num- 
ber "  of  deserters,  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
besiegers,  were  sold,  ''with  their  wives  and  children."* 
Besides  ninety-seven  thousand,  who  went  into  slavery 
from  Jerusalem  alone,  there  were  sent  from  Tarichea 
to  Nero  six  thousand  choice  young  men,  while  thirty 
thousand,  from  the  same  place,  were  sold.  Similar 
convoys  of  slaves  were  marched  from  many  other 
desolated  towns.  Of  the  captives  from  Jerusalem, 
the  tall  and  handsome  were  carried  to  Rome  to  grace 
the  triumphal  entry  of  Titus.  Of  the  remainder, 
many  were  sent  as  slaves  to  the  public  works  in 
Egypt ;  but  the  greater  number  were  distributed 
through  the  Roman  provinces,  literally  ''into  all  na- 
tions," to  be  slain  by  gladiators,  or  exposed  to  wild 
beasts  in  the  shows  of  the  amphitheatre.  From  that 
time  to  the  present,  the  history  of  all  the  nations  of 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  is  filled  with  testimonies  to 
the  prophetic  spirit  of  Him  who,  when  Jerusalem  was 
in  peace  and  strength,  predicted  the  approaching  and 
yet  existing  calamities  of  her  sons.  In  what  country 
of  the  world,  as  then  known,  have  they  not  been  per- 
secuted and  enslaved  ? 

But  in  addition  to  the  captivity  of  the  people,    y 
''^Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles^  U^ 
until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  he  fulfilled^     It  is 
*  Wars,  b.  6,  ch.  8,  sec.  2. 


308  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

well  ascertained,  by  corresponding  passages  of  the 
Bible,  that  by  this  expression,  the  times  of  the  Gen- 
tiles being  fulfilled,  was  intended  the  universal  in- 
gathering of  the  nations  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  This 
has  not  yet  arrived.  Jerusalem  is  therefore  still  trod- 
den down  of  the  Grentiles,  just  as  she  has  ever  been 
since  the  ploughshare  of  the  Roman  desolation  was 
first  driven  over  the  ruins  of  her  temple.  The  hand 
of  Providence,  in  the  uninterrupted  fulfilment  of  this 
prediction  down  to  the  present  time,  is  wonderfully 
manifest.  Two  things  are  specially  to  be  noted  in 
the  prophecy :  first,  that  the  Jews  were  never  to  he 
reestablished  in  Jerusalem ;  and  secondly,  that  it 
M'^as  not  only  to  be  in  possession  of,  but  to  be  '^  trod- 
den down  of  the  Gentiles^''^  until  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles  should  be  fulfilled.  That  the  Jews  have 
never  been  reestablished  in  Jerusalem  since  its  de- 
struction, has  not  been  owing  to  any  want  of  desperate 
effort  on  their  part,  nor  because  the  power  of  the 
Gentiles  has  not  been  vigorously  employed  in  their 
behalf.  In  about  sixty-four  years  after  their  almost 
total  expulsion  from  Judea,  under  the  conquest  of 
Titus,  Jerusalem  was  partially  rebuilt  by  the  emperor 
Adrian.  A  Roman  colony  was  settled  there,  and  all 
Jews  were  forbidden,  on  pain  of  death,  to  enter  therein, 
or  even  to  look  at  the  city  from  a  distance.  Soon 
after  this  the  Jews  revolted  with  great  fury,  and 
made  a  powerful  effort  to  recover  their  city  from  the 
heathen.  They  were  not  subdued  again  without  great 
loss  to  the  Romans,  and  immense  slaughter  among 
themselves. 


PROPHECY.  309 

In  the  reign  of  Constantino  the  Great  their  effort 
was  repeated,  and  terminated  as  before  in  perfect 
defeat,  with  increased  massacre  and  oppression.  But 
in  the  person  of  the  nephew  of  Constantino,  their  zeal 
for  the  rebuilding  of  their  temple  was  associated  with 
the  determination  of  the  emperor  JuHan  to  overthrow 
Christianity;  and  between  the  power  of  a  Roman 
sovereign  with  a  victorious  army  at  his  feet  and  the 
exulting  enthusiasm  of  the  whole  remnant  of  the 
Jewish  people,  a  union  was  formed  for  the  single 
object  of  rearing  up  the  temple  with  its  ancient  ritual 
and  of  planting  around  it  a  numerous  colony  of  Jews, 
which,  to  all  human  judgment,  bore  the  assurance  of 
complete  success.  The  grand  object  of  Julian  was 
to  convert  '*the  success  of  his  undertaking  into  a 
specious  argument  against  the  faith  of  prophecy,  and 
the  truth  of  revelation."*  A  decree  was  issued  to 
his  friend  Alypius,  that  the  temple  of  Jerusalem 
should  be  restored  in  its  pristine  beauty.  To  the 
energies  of  Alypius  was  joined  the  support  of  the 
governor  of  Palestine.  At  the  call  of  the  emperor, 
the  Jews  from  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire  assem- 
bled in  triumphant  exultation  on  the  hills  of  Zion. 
Their  wealth,  strength,  time,  even  their  most  delicate 
females,  were  devoted  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm 
to  the  preparation  of  the  ground,  covered  then  with 
rubbish  and  ruins.  But  was  the  temple  rebuilt? 
The  foundations  were  not  entirely  laid.  Why  ?  Was 
force  deficient;  or  zeal,  or  wealth,  or  perseverance, 
when  Roman  power  and  Jewish  desperation  were 
*  Gibbon. 


310  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

associated?  Nothing  was  lacking.  **  Yet,"  says 
Gibbon,  '^  the  joint  efforts  of  power  and  enthusiasm 
were  unsuccessful,  and  the  ground  of  the  Jewish 
temple  still  continued  to  exhibit  the  same  edifying 
spectacle  of  ruin  and  desolation."  There  was  an 
unseen  hand,  which  neither  Jews  nor  emperors  could 
overcome.  The  simple  account  of  the  defeat  of  this 
threatening  enterprise  of  infidelity  is  thus  given  by  a 
heathen  historian  of  the  day,  a  soldier  in  the  service, 
and  a  philosopher  in  the  principles  of  Julian.  ^'  While 
Alypius,  assisted  by  the  governor  of  the  province, 
urged  with  vigor  and  diligence  the  execution  of  the 
work,  horrible  balls  of  fire  breaking  out  near  the 
foundation,  with  frequent  and  reiterated  attacks,  ren- 
dered the  place  from  time  to  time  inaccessible  to  the 
scorched  and  blasted  workmen;  and  the  victorious 
element  continuing  in  this  manner  obstinately  and 
resolutely  bent,  as  it  were,  to  drive  them  to  a  distance, 
the  undertaking  was  abandoned."*  **  Such  authority 
should  satisfy  a  believing,  and  must  astonish  an  in- 
credulous mind,"  acknowledges  even  the  sceptical 
Gibbon.  He  cannot  but  own  that  "  an  earthquake, 
a  whirlwind,  and  a  fiery  eruption,  which  overturned 
and  scattered  the  new  foundations  of  the  temple,  are 
attested  with  some  variations,  by  contemporary  and 
respectable  evidence."  One  writer,  who  published 
an  account  of  this  wonderful  catastrophe  in  the  very 
year  of  its  occurrence,  boldly  declared,  says  Gibbon, 
that  its  preternatural  character  was  not  disputed, 
even  by  the  infidels  of  the  day^  Another  speaks  of 
*  Ammianus  Marcellinus.  t  Gibbon,  vol.  3.  ch.  23. 


PROPHECY.  '  311 

it  thus:  '*We  are  witnesses  of  it,  for  it  happened  in 
our  time,  not  long  ago.  And  now,  if  you  should  go 
to  Jerusalem,  you  may  see  the  foundations  open ; 
and  if  you  inquire  the  reason  you  will  hear  no  other 
than  that  just  mentioned."* 

Whether  this  attempt  of  Julian  was  defeated  by 
miraculous  interposition,  is  a  question  which  our 
present  object  does  not  require  us  to  argue.^  Two 
things  are  certain :  first,  that  the  pbwer  and  wealth 
of  the  Gentiles  were  united  with  the  devoted  en- 
thusiasm of  the  Jews,  to  defeat  the  prophecy  of 
Christ,  by  rebuilding  the  temple,  and  by  reestablish- 
ing its  ritual,  and  by  reorganizing  a  Jewish  popula- 
tion as  possessors  of  Jerusalem ;  secondly,  that  con- 
trary to  all  expectation,  when  nothing  was  lacking 
for  the  work,  and  none  in  the  world  lifted  a  finger 
against  it,  it  was  suddenly  abandoned  on  account  of 
sundry  alarming  and  singular  phenomena  bursting 
from  the  original  site  of  the  temple,  by  which  even 
the  fanaticism  of  the  Jews  was  deterred,  and  the 
enmity  of  Julian  to  the  gospel  defeated.  These  un- 
deniable facts  are  sufficient  to  show,  with  impressive 
evidence,  the  hand  of  God  protecting  the  prophetic 
character  of  our  Lord.  When,  in  connection  withi 
these,  you  consider  the  great  anxiety  so  universally 
felt  among  the  Jews  of  all  centuries,  to  enjoy  the 
privilege  of  living  and  dying  in  Jerusalem ;  that  no 
risk  of  life,  or  sacrifice  of  property,  would  be  thought 

*  Chrysostom.     See  Lardner,  ch.  4.  p.  324. 

t  See  the  miraculous  character  of  this  event  very  ably  ad- 
vocated in  Bishop  Warburton's  Julian. 


312  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

too  great  for  the  purpose  of  once  more  setting  up  the 
gates  and  altars  of  the  holy  city ;  that  the  nation  is 
now  as  numerous  as  at  any  period  of  its  ancient  glory ; 
and  yet,  that  during  almost  the  whole  period  since 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  so  entirely  have  Jews 
been  prevented  from  living  on  her  foundations,  that 
they  have  had  to  purchase  dearly  the  pernjission  to 
come  within  sight  of  her  hills,  and  to  this  day  are 
taxed  and  oppressed  to  the  dust,  as  the  cost  of  being 
allowed  to  walk  her  streets,  and  look  at  a  distance 
upon  her  mount  Moriah,  you  will  acknowledge  that 
the  prediction  of  our  Saviour  in  reference  to  their 
exclusion  from  Jerusalem,  has  been  not  only  most 
strikingly  fulfilled,  but  fulfilled  in  spite  of  the  most 
powerful  causes  and  efforts  for  its  defeat. 

But  it  was  predicted  that  Jerusalem  should  not 
only  be  possessed  by  the  Gentiles,  but  ^'  trodden 
down^^  by  them  till  their  times  should  be  fulfilled. 
What  the  soldiers  of  Titus  did  has  already  been 
stated.  From  that  time,  during  sixty-four  years,  a 
Roman  garrison  alone  inhabited  the  ruins.  At  the 
end  of  these  years  the  city  was  rebuilt  by  the  em- 
peror Adrian,  under  the  name  of  (Elia ;  a  Roman 
colony  was  planted  there;  all  Jews  were  banished 
on  pain  of  death ;  every  measure  was  used  to  de- 
stroy sacred  recollections,  and  desecrate  what  were 
esteemed  as  holy  places.  The  city  was  consecrated 
to  Jupiter  Capitolinus ;  a  temple  was  erected  to  the 
pagan  god  over  the  sepulchre  of  Jesus ;  a  statue  of 
Venus  was  set  up  on  mount  Calvary,  and  the  figure 
of  a  swine  placed  in  marble  on  the  gate  that  looked 


PROPHECY.  313 

towards  Bethlehem.  Jerusalem  continued  in  pos- 
session of  the  Roman  emperors  till  subdued  in  the 
year  637  A.  D.  by  the  Saracens.  The  king  of  Persia 
had  in  the  mean  while  besieged  and  plundered  it,  but 
his  dominion  was  too  short-lived  to  claim  an  excep- 
tion from  this  statement.*  In  the  hands  of  Moham- 
medans, sometimes  of  Arabian,  sometimes  of  Turk- 
ish, and  sometimes  of  Egyptian  origin,  it  continued 
to  be  literally  trampled  down  and  desecrated,  during 
a  period  of  more  than  four  hundred  years  ;  when 
having  been  taken  by  the  crusaders,  its  government 
was  assumed  by  one  of  their  leaders,  and  Christians 
alone  were  allowed  to  dwell  therein.  Only  about 
eighty-eight  years  elapsed,  however,  before  the  cres- 
cent of  Mohammed  was  again  planted  upon  the  hill 
of  Zion,  where  to  this  day  it  has  remained,  with  a 
single  trifling  exception,  undisturbed  either  by  Jew 
or  Christian.  During  the  seven  centuries  of  this 
uninterrupted  dominion  of  Mohammedanism,  Jerusa- 
lem has  been  captured  and  recaptured,  again  and 
again,  by  the  various  contending  families  and  factions 
of  the  followers  of  the  Arabian  prophet.  The  desola- 
tions of  war,  the  marges  of  contending  hosts,  have 
indeed  ^'trodden  doivn^^  her  melancholy  hills.  In 
the  sixteenth  century,  when  Selim  the  ninth  emperor 
of  the  Turks  visited  the  city,  it  lay  just  as  it  had 
been  seen  by  the  famous  Tamerlane  more  than  one 
hundred  years  before,  "miserably  deformed  and 
ruined,"  inhabited  only  by  a  few  Christians,  who 
paid  a  large  tribute  to  the  sultan  of  Egypt  for  the 
*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  6,  ch.  46,  p.  206. 

Evidences.  14 


314  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

possession  of  the  holy  sepulchre."*  Its  condition 
still,  is  thus  stated  by  a  recent  traveller.  ^^At  every 
step,  coming  out  of  the  city,  the  heart  is  reminded  of 
that  prophecy,  accomplished  to  the  letter,  *  Jerusalem 
shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles.'  All  the 
streets  are  wretchedness  ;  and  the  houses  of  the  Jews 
more  especially,  the  people  who  once  held  a  sceptre 
on  this  mountain  of  holiness,  are  as  dunghills."  ''  No 
expression  could  have  been  invented  more  descriptive 
of  the  visible  state  of  Jerusalem,  than  this  single 
phrase,  '  trodden  down?^''^  ''  Not  a  creature  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  streets,"  says  another  traveller,  "  not  a 
creature  at  the  gates,  except  now  and  then  a  peasant 
gliding  through  the  gloom,  concealing  under  his  gar- 
ments the  fruits  of  his  labor,  lest  he  should  be  robbed 
of  his  hard  earnings  by  the  rapacious  soldier.  The 
only  noise  heard  from  time  to  time  in  the  city  is  the 
galloping  of  the  steed  of  the  desert."*  "  The  Jerusa- 
lem of  sacred  history  is  in  fact  no  more.  Not  a 
vestige  remains  of  the  capital  of  David  and  Solomon ; 
not  a  monument  of  Jewish  times  is  standing.  The 
very  course  of  the  walls  is  changed,  and  the  boun- 
daries of  the  ancient  city  are  iJecome  doubtful."* 

Thus,  during  a  period  of  seventeen  hundred  and 
sixty  years  have  the  captivities  and  dispersions  and 
oppressions  of  the  Jewish  people,  together  with  the 
desolate  condition  of  their  city  and  temple,  most 
signally  attested  the  prophetic  character  of  our  Lord. 

*  Newton  on  Prophecy,  vol.  2,  p.  319-334. 

t  Jowett's  Researches,  p.  200.  i  Chateaubriand. 

*  Modern  Traveller,  Palestine,  p.  75. 


PROPHECY.  316 

And  shall  we  not  hence  he  confident  that  what  re- 
mains of  his  prediction  will  he  accomplished  ?  WilJ 
not  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  he  fulfilled  ?  Will  not 
Jerusalem  continue,  until  then,  to  he  trodden  down 
of  the  Grentiles  ?  And  then  will  it  not  cease  to  he 
subject  to  them  ?  And  does  not  the  expression  of  the 
prophecy  imply  that  it  will  he  again  rebuilt  and  pos- 
sessed by  the  Jews  in  the  day  when  "  all  Israel  shall 
be  saved  ?"  **  For  what  reason  can  we  believe,  that 
though  they  are  dispersed  among  all  nations,  yet  by 
a  constant  miracle  they  are  kept  distinct  from  all, 
but  for  the  further  manifestation  of  God's  purposes 
towards  them  ?  The  prophecies  have  been  accom- 
plished to  the  greatest  exactness  in  the  destruction 
of  their  city,  and  its  continuing  still  subject  to 
strangers ;  in  the  dispersion  of  their  people,  and 
their  living  still  separate  from  all  people ;  and  why 
should  not  the  remaining  parts  of  the  same  prophe- 
cies be  ,as  fully  accomplished  in  their  restoration  at 
the  proper  season,  when  the  times  of  the  Gentiles 
shall  be  fulfilled  ?"* 

13.  We  have  now  exhibited  the  exact  fulfilment 
of  all  the  particulars  of  this  remarkable  prophecy, 
with  one  exception.  The  Lord  specified  the  time  of 
those  great  events  which  he  so  minutely  foretold. 
''  This  generation  shall  not  pass,  till  all  these  things 
be  fulfilled."  Forty  years  had  not  elapsed  from  the 
date  of  this  prediction,  before  all  things  referred  to  in 
it  had  taken  place. 

And  now  let  me  add  but  a  few  words  in  conclusion. 
*  Newton,  vol.  2,  p.  336. 


316  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

No  charge  can  be  brought  against  the  prophecy 
which  we  have  been  exhibiting,  on  the  score  of  ob- 
scurity or  ambiguousness  of  expression.  It  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  plainest  terms,  and  admits  of  but  one 
interpretation.  Nothing  can  be  said  in  detraction 
from  its  claim  to  inspiration,  on  the  ground  of  its 
being  general  in  its  expression.  It  is  singularly  par- 
ticular, as  well  as  comprehensive.  Nothing  can  be 
said  in  denial  of  the  complete  correspondence  be- 
tween these  various  predictions  and  the  history  of 
the  times  and  places  to  which  they  refer.  We  have 
drawn  the  evidence  from  sources  which  cannot  be 
suspected  of  any  partiality  to  the  prophetic  character 
of  Jesus.  The  History  of  the  Wars  of  the  Jews,  by 
Josephus  the  Jewish  priest ;  the  Annals,  by  Tacitus 
a  Roman  consul ;  and  the  History  of  the  Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  by  Gibbon  the  English 
sceptic,  are  all  the  vouchers  we  require.  What  then 
is  the  alternative  to  which  the  student  of  prophecy  is 
reduced  ?  He  must  either  acknowledge  that  Jesus 
was  possessed  of  the  spirit  of  genuine  prophecy,  or 
that  he  was  so  sagacious  as  to  be  able  to  foretell  all 
these  particulars  when  no  one  else  could  see  any 
sign  of  them,  or  that  the  gospels  containing  these 
predictions  were  written  after  the  events.  The  first 
the  sceptic  is  resolved  at  all  hazards  to  deny ;  the 
second  he  cannot  suppose  ;  the  last  he  must  assert,  or 
give  up  his  cause.  For  the  same  reason,  therefoire, 
that  the  heathen  Porphyry,  when  he  could  not  deny 
the  strict  correspondence  between  the  prophecies  of 
Daniel  and   the  subsequent  history  of  Egypt   and 


PROPHECY.  317 

Syria,  rather  than  confess  that  Daniel  was  a  prophet, 
contradicted  every  principle  of  historical  testimony 
for  the  sake  of  pretending  that  he  must  have  written 
after  the  occurrence  of  what  he  foretold  ;  so  have 
some  modern  Porphyries  been  driven  to  assert  that 
the  evangelists  who  relate  this  prophecy  of  Jerusalem, 
must  have  written  after  the  city  was  destroyed.*  I 
need  not  say  that  the  only  reason  pretended  to  in 
support  of  this  assertion,  is  the  very  thing  we  have 
been  laboring  to  show :  the  strict  agreement  between 
the  prophecy  and  the  event.  Their  argument  is  nei- 
ther more  nor  less  than  the  following :  If  these  words 
were  written  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
Jesus  was  a  genuine  prophet ;  but  we  will  not  believe 
liim  to  have  been  a  genuine  prophet ;  therefore  these 
words  were  not  written  before  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem. A  conclusion  as  shameless  as  it  is  sense- 
less— as  opposite  to  the  faith  of  all  history  as  to  the 
rules  of  all  sound  criticism,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
learned  of  all  ages.  It  shows  the  strength  of  the 
argument  from  prophecy,  as  well  as  the  infatuated 
obstinacy  with  which  the  human  heart  is  capable  of 
resisting  whatever  would  bind  it  to  the  obedience  of 
Christ. 

But  let  us  not  forget  that  the  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem, with  its  signs  and  tribulations,  is  set  in  the 
Scriptures  as  a  type  of  an  unspeakably  more  awful 
and  momentous  event — the  end  of  the  world.  A 
day  Cometh  when  "  the  sun  shall  be  darkened,  and 
the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall 
*  Voltaire.     Watson's  Ap.  for  Bible,  p.  169. 


318  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

fall  from  heaven,  and  the  powers  of  the  heavens  shall 
be  shaken  :  and  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son 
of  man  in  heaven  ;  and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great 
glory.  And  he  shall  send  his  angels  with  a  great 
sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  they  shall  gather  together 
his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven 
to  the  other."*  When  that  day  shall  arise  on  the 
world,  knoweth  no  man.  One  thing  we  know,  that 
it  will  find  us  just  as  death  shall  find  us.  Death,  to 
each  of  us,  will  be  virtually  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man.  Then  our  eternal  state  will  be  sealed.  There- 
fore doth  wisdom  utter  her  voice :  0  ye  sons  of  men, 
prepare  to  meet  your  God  ;  for  in  such  an  hour  as 
ye  think  not,  the  Son  of  man  cometh.  Watch ;  walk 
as  children  of  light.  Embrace  the  promises  of  the 
gospel,  and  live  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord. 
'*  Blessed  is  that  servant  whom  his  Lord,  when  he 
cometh,  shall  find  so  doing." 

*  Matt.  24:29-31. 


PROPAGATIOU  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  319 


LECTURE    IX. 

THE  PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

There  is  a  peculiarity  in  the  argument  for  the 
divine  authority^  of  Christianity,  which  we  cannot  but 
notice  in  the  commencement  of  this  lecture.  "While 
the  several  parts  unite  with  the  utmost  harmony  and 
prodigious  strength  in  the  construction  of  one  grand 
system  of  evidence,  each  is  a  perfect  argument  in 
itself,  and  capable  of  furnishing,  had  vre  no  tiling  else 
on  which  to  depend,  an  ample  support  for  the  whole 
fabric  of  Christianity.  We  speak  of  the  several  parts 
composing  that  general  division  to  which  these  lec- 
tures are  restricted:  the  external  evidence,  such  as 
the  miracles,  tJie  prophecies,  and  that  on  which  we 
are  now  about  to  enter,  the  propagation  of  Chris- 
tianity, The  two  former  have  been  discussed.  We 
praise  the  subject,  not  the  lecturer,  in  saying  that  we 
have  not  only  established  on  solid  ground  the  genu- 
ineness of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel,  and  the  pro- 
phetic attestation  to  the  divine  mission  of  our  Lord ; 
but  that,  in  having  done  thus,  we  have  twice  finished 
the  proof  of  Christianity  as  a  divine  revelation.  Its 
was  complete  when  w^e  had  shown  that  Jesus  and  his 
apostles  were  attended  by  the  credentials  of  genuine 
miracles.  It  was  commenced  again,  and  completed 
a  second  time,  by  a  course  of  argument  entirely  dif- 


320  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

ferent,  when  we  had  shown  that  Jesus  was  a  proph- 
et, as  well  as  the  great  subject  of  prophecy.  We  are 
now  to  begin  anew,  hoping  to  prove  a  third  time,  and 
by  a  course  of  evidence  entirely  different  from  either 
of  the  preceding,  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  none 
other  than  'Hhe  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God." 
Our  argument  will  be  drawn  from  the  rapid  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel,  in  contrast  with  the  difficulties  it 
had  to  overcome. 

It  was  only  forty  days  after  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  that  he  delivered  to  his  little  band  of  apostles 
the  parting  charge,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  "  Go,  teach,"  or 
disciple,  *'all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
In  other  words,  Go,  carry  the  war  of  the  truth  into 
the  midst  of  its  enemies ;  think  not  your  work  com- 
pleted till  you  have  planted  the  cross  upon  the  high 
places  of  the  heathen,  and  have  gathered  together  my 
elect  **  from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven  to 
the  other."  Such  was  the  work  intrusted  to  those 
few  unlearned,  despised  disciples,  who  formed  almost 
the  whole  strength  of  the  Christian  church  in  the  day 
when  their  beloved  Master  was  received  out  of  their 
sight,  and  ascended  into  heaven.  Now  let  us  con- 
sider, in  the  first  division  of  this  lecture, 

I.  The  difficulties  they  had  to  surmount  in  exe- 
cuting^ this  command.     Be  it  remarked, 

1.  That  the  idea  of  propagating  a  netu  religion^ 
to  the  exclusion  of  every  other,  was  at  that  time  a 
perfect  novelty  to  all  mankind,  with  the  exception  of 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  321 

perhaps  a  few  individuals  of  the  Jews,  specially  en- 
lightened in  the  prophetic  declarations  of  the  Old 
Testament  scriptures.  The  Jewish  religion  was  in- 
deed sufficiently  exclusive;  but  in  its  external  organ- 
ization it  was  neither  designed  nor  adapted  for  exten- 
sive promulgation.  Nothing  could  have  been  more 
perfectly  foreign  to  all  the  reigning  opinions,  preju- 
dices, and  dispositions  of  that  insulated  nation,  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  than  the  thought  of  attempting 
to  convert  even  a  single  city  of  the  Grentiles  to  their 
system  of  religion.  Their  zeal  was  indeed  extremely 
energetic  in  behalf  of  whatever  involved  the  security 
and  honor  of  their  faith;  but  in  regard  to  other  na- 
tions, it  was  the  zeal  of  jealousy  to  keep  them  at  a 
great  distance,  rather  than  of  invitation  to  bring  them 
to  a  participation  in  their  superior  privileges.     . 

The  charge  of  the  Saviour  to  his  apostles  was,  if 
possible,  still  more  novel  to  the  Gentiles  than  the 
Jews.  Heathenism  had  never  been  propagated  from 
place  to  place.  In  its  innumerable  forms,  it  had 
grown  up  out  of  the  depraved  dispositions  of  human 
nature  all  over  the  world,  as  thorns  and  thistles, 
though  never  sown  by  the  husbandman,  are  found 
everywhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  "Without  a 
creed,  it  was  without  principle ;  and  therefore  it  had 
nothing  to  contend  for  but  the  privilege  of  assuming 
any  form,  worshipping  any  idol,  practising  any  ritual, 
and  pursuing  any  absurdity,  which  the  craft  of  the 
priesthood  or  the  superstitions  and  vices  of  the  peo- 
ple might  select.  It  never  was  imagined  by  any  de- 
scription of  pagans,  that  all  other  forms  of  religion 
11* 


322  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

were  not  as  good  for  the  people  observing  them,  as 
theirs  were  for  them ;  or  that  any  dictate  of  kindness 
or  common-sense  should  lead  them  to  attempt  the 
subversion  of  the  gods  of  their  neighbors,  for  the  sake 
of  establishing  their  own  in  their  stead.  So  that 
nothing  could  have  been  more  perfectly  new,  surpris- 
ing, or  offensive  to  the  whole  gentile  world,  than  the 
duty  laid  upon  the  first  advocates  of  Christianity,  to 
go  into  all  nations,  asserting  the  exclusive  claims  of 
the  gospel,  denouncing  the  validity  of  all  other  relig- 
ions, and  laboring  to  bring  over  every  creature  to  the 
single  faith  of  Christ.  Had  Christianity  been  content 
to  standi  without  urging  its  right  to  stand  alone^  the 
heathen  nations  might  have  allowed  it  as  much  tol- 
eration as  they  were  accustomed  to  yield  to  the  various 
systems  of  idolatry  among  themselves.  An  altar 
would  perhaps  have  been  vouchsafed  in  many  an  idol- 
temple,  to  the  Christian's  God,  and  an  image  in  honor 
of  Christ  might  have  been  permitted  a  place  among 
the  divinities  of  the  Pantheon.  But  its  character 
being  rigidly  exclusive,  and  yet  its  spirit  universally 
benevolent,  the  apostles  must  have  seen  at  once  that 
they  were  charged  with  a  work  not  only  perfectly 
new,  but  which  would  necessarily  bring  them  into 
conflict  with  all  the  institutions,  passions,  customs, 
prejudices,  and  powers  of  all  nations  of  the  world.* 
2.  But  the  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  by  the 

*  A  religion  under  which  all  men  could  unite  with  one  an- 
other appeared  to  the  ancients  an  impossibility.  ^*  A  man  must 
be  very  weak,"  said  Celsus,  "  to  imagine  that  Greeks  and  bar- 
barians, in  Asia,  Europe,  and  Lybia,  can  ever  unite  under  the 
8amc  system  of  religion.'^ 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  323 

apostles  were  not  confined  to  the  novelty  of  their  en- 
terprise, and  the  exclusiveness  of  their  faith.  In  the 
whole  character  of  the  gospel,  as  a  system  of  relig- 
ious  doctrine  and  a  rule  of  heart  and  life^  there  was 
a  barrier  in  the  way  of  its  progress,  which  to  human 
wisdom  and  power  would  have  rendered  their  cause 
perfectly  desperate.  To  propagate  any  religion  at  the 
expense  of  every  other  would  have  been  to  them,  in 
their  own  strength,  destitute  as  they  were  of  all 
earthly  auxiliaries,  a  hopeless  task ;  but  to  propagate 
the  religion  of  the  gospel  was  unspeakably  more  diffi- 
cult. A  system  of  doctrine  partaking  in  the  least 
degree  of  any  of  its  cliaracteristic  qualities,  was  a 
thing  entirely  unimagined  among  the  heathen,  and 
scarcely  thought  of  by  one  in  ten  thousand  of  the  de- 
generate posterity  of  Abraham.  Religion,  among  the 
Gentiles,  was  a  creature  of  the  state;  it  consisted 
exclusively  in  the  outward  circumstance  of  temples, 
and  altars  and  images,  and  priests  and  sacrifices,  and 
festivals  and  lustrations.  It  multiplied  its  objects  of 
worship  ^t  the  pleasure  of  the  civil  authorities ;  taught 
no  system  of  doctrine,  recognized  no  system  of  moral- 
ity, required  nothing  of  tlie  heart,  committed  the  life 
of  man  to  unlimited  discretion,  and  allowed  any  one 
to  stand  perfectly  well  with  the  gods,  on  the  trifling 
condition  of  a  Httle  show  of  respect  for  their  worship, 
to  whatever  extent  he  indulged  in  the  worst  passions 
and  lowest  propensities  of  his  nature.  Heathen  relig- 
ion, in  all  its  forms,  was  the  most  perfect  contrast  to 
every  thing  spiritual,  holy,  humbling,  self-denying. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  foreign  to  every  habit 


324  Til'ILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

of  thought,  in  the  mind  of  a  native  of  Greece  or  Rome, 
than  the  scripture  doctrine  of  the  nature  and  guilt  of 
sin,  of  repentance,  conversion,  faith,  love,  meekness, 
and  purity  of  heart.  Their  languages  had  scarcely 
expressions  sufficiently  approximated  to  these  sub- 
jects to  admit  of  their  explanation,  without  the  coin- 
age of  new  words  for  the  purpose.  And  in  many  re- 
spects the  whole  race  of  the  Jews,  degenerate  as  they 
were  in  the  time  of  the  apostles,  were  as  little  pre- 
pared for  a  spiritual,  heart-searching  religion,  as  any 
people  of  the  G  entiles. 

Then  imagine  the  incipient  effort  of  the  disciples 
of  Christ  to  gain  over  the  nations  to  the  obedience  of 
the  gospel.  "What  could  they  say  to  them  by  way  of 
conciliation,  of  all  their  systems  of  religion  and  habits 
of  living,  to  which  from  time  immemorial  they  had 
been  accustomed?  Nothing  but  unqualified,  uncom- 
promising reprobation.  What  could  they  offer  as  a 
substitute,  and  with  what  recommendations  could 
they  propose  it?  The  unity  of  God^  to  the  extermi- 
nation of  all  idolatry ;  the  fall  of  man  and  his  entire 
ruin  and  condemnation  by  sin,  to  the  utter  subversion 
of  all  their  proud  conceit  of  their  own  merit,  and  of 
the  dignity  of  their  degraded  nature ;  the  necessity  of 
a  new  heart,  including  repentance  and  holiness  and 
humility,  and  the  diligent  pursuit  of  all  godliness 
of  living,  to  the  complete  breaking  up  of  all  their 
philosophy,  the  mortification  of  all  their  pride,  and 
the  direct  prohibition  of  all  those  unbridled  passions 
and  odious  vices  which  then  held  such  universal  do- 
minion in  the  world.     It  was  no  aid  to  the  work  of 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  325 

the  apostles,  that  besides  the  above  unwelcome  truths 
and  requisitions,  the  gospel  stipulated  for  a  habit  of 
secret  prayer,  a  life  of  faith,  a  heart  animated  with 
patience,  gentleness,  forgiveness,  and  benevolence  to 
all  mankind;  and  above  all,  a  single  reliance  for 
peace  with  God  upon  the  death  and  intercession  of 
One  who  had  been  crucified  as  a  malefactor,  despised 
and  rejected  even  by  the  despised  nation  of  the  Jews. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  from  this  brief  sketch  of 
some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  gospel,  in  contrast 
with  all  that  was  loved  and  practised  and  gloried  in 
by  the  nations  of  the  earth,  that  while  a  new  religion, 
willing  to  make  terms  with  the  habits  and  corruptions 
of  men,  might,  if  aided  by  the  fascinations  of  elo- 
quence, the  enticements  of  worldly  interest,  and  the 
arm  of  secular  power,  have  gained  some  advancement, 
Christianity,  with  its  uncompromising  spirit,  its  holy 
requirements,  and  its  twelve  unlettered  and  despised 
apostles  for  its  whole  earthly  strength,  must  have 
perished  in  its  infancy,  had  not  the  mighty-  Ruler  of 
the  universe  been  its  friend. 

3.  From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  manifest  that 
the  enterprise  of  the  apostles  must  have  arrayed 
against  it  all  the  influence  of  every  priesthood  both 
among  Jews  and  heathens.  In  the  beginning  of 
Christianity,  the  priests  of  the  Jews  were  not  only 
very  numerous  and  degenerate,  but  exceedingly  in- 
fluential in  their  nation.  They  were,  in  reality,  the 
nobility  of  Judea.  The  power  of  the  magistracy  was 
in  a  great  measure  in  their  hands.  The  people  were 
educated  under  their  charge.     They  held  the  reins  of 


326  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

public  opinion,  and  headed  all  the  great  public  move- 
ments of  the  community.  What  tremendous  resist- 
ance they  were  capable  of  making  to  the  advance- 
ment of  Christianity;  how  bitterly  they  replied  to 
those  claims  which  pronounced  the  dissolution  of  their 
priesthood  and  the  termination  of  their  authority ;  and 
with  what  deadly  concert  they  persecuted  its  blessed 
Author,  thinking  they  had  put  also  his  gospel,  when 
they  had  put  his  person  to  the  cross,  I  need  not  re- 
mind you. 

We  turn  to  the  priests  of  the  Gentiles,  The  en- 
terprise of  the  apostles  was  directly  at  war  with  their 
dignities,  their  influence,  and  their  gains.  What  re- 
sistance they  were  capable  of  making,  is  obvious  from 
a  consideration  of  the  extensive  establishment,  the 
high  official  dignity,  the  wealth,  the  political  influence, 
and  the  superstitious  veneration  attached,  in  the  first 
years  of  Christianity,  to  a  heathen  priesthood.  '^  The 
reUgion  of  the  nations,"  says  Gribbon,  ^^  was  not  mere- 
ly a  speculative  doctrine,  professed  in  the  schools  or 
preached  in  the  temples.  The  innumerable  deities 
and  rites  of  polytheism  were  closely  interwoven  with 
every  circumstance  of  business  or  pleasure,  of  public 
or  of  private  life ;  and  it  seemed  impossible  to  escape 
the  observance  of  them,  without  at  the  same  time 
renouncing  the  commerce  of  mankind.  The  impor- 
tant transactions  of  peace  and  war  were  prepared  or 
concluded  by  solemn  sacrifices,  in  which  the  magis- 
trate, the  senator,  and  the  soldier  were  obliged  to  par- 
ticipate." The  Roman  senate  was  always  held  in  a 
temple   or   consecrated   place.     Before    commencing 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  327 

business,  every  senator  performed  an  act  of  homage 
to  the  gods  of  the  nation.  The  several  colleges  of  the 
sacerdotal  order  in  the  single  city  of  Rome ;  the  fif- 
teen pontiffs,  the  fifteen  augurs,  the  fifteen  keepers 
of  the  syhilline  books,  the  six  vestals,  the  seven 
epuH,  the  flamens,  the  confraternities  of  the  Salians 
and  Lupercalians,  etc.,  furnish  an  idea  of  the  strong 
establishment  of  the  priesthood  in  an  empire  that 
embraced  the  known  world.  The  dignity  of  their 
sacred  character  was  protected  as  well  by  the  laws 
as  the  manners  of  the  country.  **  Their  robes  of  pur- 
ple, chariots  of  state,  and  sumptuous  entertainments, 
attracted  the  admiration  of  the  people ;  and  they  re- 
ceived from  the  consecrated  lands  and  public  revenue 
an  ample  stipend,  which  liberally  supported  the  splen- 
dor of  the  priesthood,  and  all  the  expenses  of  the 
religious  worship  of  the  state."  The  great  men  of 
Rome,  after  their  consulships  and  military  triumphs, 
aspired  to  the  place  of  pontiff  or  of  augur.  Cicero 
confesses  that  the  latter  was  the  supreme  object  of 
his  wishes.  Pliny  was  animated  with  a  similar  am- 
bition. Tacitus  the  historian,  after  his  prsetorship, 
was  a  member  of  the  sacerdotal  order.  The  fifteen 
priests,  composing  the  college  of  pontiffs,,  were  distin- 
guished as  the  companions  of  their  sovereign.  And 
as  an  evidence  of  what  accommodations  paganism 
must  have  had  in  Rome  in  the  days  of  her  glory,  the 
number  of  its  temples  and  chapels  remaining  in  the 
three  hundred  and  eightieth  year  after  the  birth  of 
Christ,  when  for  more  than  three  centuries  Christian- 
ity had  been  thinning  the  ranks  of  its  votaries,  and 


328  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

for  sixty  years  had  been  the  estabUshed  religion  of 
the  empire,  was  four  hundred  and  twenty-four.*  In 
connection  with  all  this  organization  and  deep  rooted 
power  of  heathenism,  consider  its  various  tribes  of 
subordinate  agents  and  interested  allies — the  diviners, 
augurs,  and  managers  of  oracles,  with  all  the  attend- 
ants and  assistants  belonging  to  the  temples  of  a 
countless  variety  of  idols ;  the  trades  whose  craft  was 
sustained  by  the  patronage  of  image-worship,  such  as 
statuaries,  shrine-mongers,  sacrifice-sellers,  incense- 
merchants  :  consider  the  great  festivals  and  games  by 
which  heathenism  flattered  the  dispositions  of  the 
people,  and  enlisted  all  classes  and  all  countries  in  its 
support — the  Circensian  and  other  grand  exhibitions 
among  the  Romans,  the  Pythian,  Nemean,  Isthmian, 
and  Olympic  games,  celebrated  with  great  pomp  and 
splendor  in  almost  every  Grecian  city  of  Europe  and 
Asia — the  pride  of  the  people,  the  delight  of  all  the 
lovers  of  pleasure  or  of  fame,  intimately  associated 
with  and  specially  patronized  by  the  religion  of  idols, 
and  therefore  djrectly  attacked  by  all  the  efforts  of 
Christianity:  then  say,  what  must  have  been  the' 
immense  force  in  which  the  several  priesthoods  of  all 
heathen  nations  were  capable  of  uniting  among  them- 
selves, and  w*th  the  priests  of  the  Jews,  in  the  common 
cause  of  crushing  a  religion  by  whose  doctrines  none 
of  them  could  be  tolerated.  That  with  all  their  va- 
rious contingents  they  did  unite,  consenting  in  this 
one  object,  if  in  little  else,  f  f  smothering  Christianity 
in  her  cradle  or  of  drowning  her  in  the  blood  of  her 
*  Gibbon,-  vol.  4,  ch.  28. 


rilOPAOATlON  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  329 

disciples,  all  history  assures  us.  How  she  survived 
their  efforts — how  the  fishermen  of  Galilee  could  have 
overcome  their  whole  array  without  the  help  of  God, 
is  a  problem  which  infidelity  only  shows  its  own 
weakness  by  attempting  to  solve. 

4.  But  the  authority  of  the  magistrate  was 
united  with  the  influence  of  heathen  and  Jewish 
priesthoods  in  zealous  hostility  to  the  gospel.  In  all 
countries,  the  support  of  the  religion  of  the  state  was 
the  duty  of  the  magistrate.  Toleration,  among  the 
most  civilized  heathens,  much  as  it  has  been  eulogized 
by  infidels,  allowed  of  no  religion  that  would  not  per- 
mit entire  communion  on  the  part  of  its  followers  in 
the  worship  appointed  by  the  state.  On  this  condition 
it  countenanced  the  utmost  latitude  of  belief  and 
practice.*  But  to  refuse  conformity  with  the  nation- 
al rites,  and  worship  to  the  national  gods,  was  an 
unpardonable  offence  not  only  to  the  gods,  but  to  the 
civil  authority.  This  it  was  that  excited  so  much 
wonder  among  the  Gentiles,  and  nerved  the  secular 
arm  with  such  deadly  offence  against  the  disciples  of 
Christ.  *'Keep  yourselves  from  idols,"  was  a  precept 
that  met  the  pagan  Greek  and  Roman,  whenever  he 
beheld  a  Christian.  ''What  can  be  the  reason,"  said 
a  Roman  prefect  to  an  Alexandrian  bishop,  "why 

*  "The  Athenian  notion  of  toleration  is  well  described  by 
Socrates,  and  much  resembles  the  opinion  on  that  subject  that 
many  entertain  even  in  our  own  times.  *It  appears  to  me,' 
says  Socrates,  'that  the  Athenians  do  not  greatly  care  what 
sentiments  a  man  holds,  provided  he  keeps  them  to  himself; 
but  if  he  attempts  to  instruct  others,  then  they  are  indignant.'" 
Douglas  on  Errors,  etc.,  p.  212. 


330  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

you  may  not  still  adore  that  God  of  yours,  supposing 
him  to  be  a  God,  in  conjunction  with  our  gods?" 
"We  worship  no  other  God,"  was  the  Christian's 
answer;*  a  declaration  which  from  the  sword  of  a 
heathen  magistrate  could  have  no  forbearance,  and 
being  everywhere  received  as  a  characteristic  prin- 
ciple of  the  gospel,  called  out  the  whole  power  of  the 
civil  governments  of  the  Gentiles  to  unite  with  their 
priesthoods  in  its  destruction. 

5.  To  these  associated  powers  were  added  the 
prejudices  and  passions  of  all  the  people.  These, 
among  the  Gentiles,  were  powerful,  not  only  in  favor 
of  their  own  idolatries,  but  especially  in  aversion  to 
a  religion  originating  among  Jews;  still  more  to  a 
religion  advocated  by  Jews  who  were  despised  and 
persecuted  by  their  own  despised  countrymen;  and 
yet  a  great  deal  more  to  a  religion  so  spiritual  and 
holy,  so  utterly  at  war  with  vice  and  idolatry,  as  that 
of  the  gospel. 

See,  in  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  a  picture  from 
the  pencil  of  a  master,  of  the  fierce  passions,  the 
vicious  debasements,  which  universally  characterized 
the  gentile  nations  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul.  ''Filled 
with  all  unrighteousness,  fornication,  wickedness, 
covetousness,  maliciousness;  full  of  envy,  murder, 
debate,  deceit,  malignity ;  whisperers,  backbiters, 
haters  of  God,  despiteful,  proud,  boasters,  inventors 
of  evil  things,  disobedient  to  parents,  without  under- 
standing, covenant-breakers,  without  natural  affec- 
tion, implacable,  unmerciful :  who,  knowing  the  judg- 
*  Euscb.  Hist.  Eccl.  b.  7.  cli.  11. 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  331 

merit  of  Grod,  that  they  which  commit  such  things 
are  worthy  of  death,  not  only  do  the  same,  but  have 
pleasure  in  them  that  do  them."*  This  description 
is  borne  out  to  the  letter  by  the  testimonies  of  hea- 
then writers.  Paul  has  furnished  a  picture  of  the 
morals  of  his  own  nation  corresponding  with  it  in  all 
essential  features.  What  then  could  the  gospel,  with 
all  its  holy  duties  and  spiritual  doctrines,  encounter 
in  such  a  world,  but  a  most  violent  opposition  from 
the  whole  mass  of  the  people? 

6.  But  the  wisdom  and  pride  of  the  heathen 
philosophers  were  by  no  means  the  least  formidable 
enemies  with  which  the  gospel  had  to  contend.  Their 
sects,  though  numerous  and  exceedingly  various,  were 
all  agreed  in  proudly  trusting  in  themselves  that  they 
were  wise,  and  despising  others.  Their  published 
opinions,  their  private  speculations,  their  personal 
immorality,  made  them  irreconcilable  adversaries  of 
Christianity.  It  went  up  into  their  schools,  and 
called  their  wisdom  foolishness,  and  rebuked  their 
self-conceit.  It ' '  came  not  with  excellency  of  speech, " 
or  'Hhe  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,"  '* doting 
about  questions  and  strifes  of  words;"  but,  knoioing 
nothing  among  men^  save  Jesus  Christy  and  him 
crucified^  it  just  bade  them  repent,  be  converted, 
become  as  little  children,  and  believe  in  a  crucified 
Saviour -for  peace  with  Grod.  This  was  indeed,  "to 
the  Greek,  foolishness."  <«What  will  this  babbler 
say?"  "He  seemeth  to  be  a  setter  forth  of  strange 
gods,"  were  the  taunting  words  of  certain  of  the  Epi- 
*  Rom.  1:29-32. 


33S  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

cureans  and  Stoics,  when  they  encountered  St.  Paul. 
Mockery  was  the  natural  expression  of  their  minds, 
'•when  they  heard  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead."* 
The  apostles,  therefore,  in  attempting  to  propagate  the 
gospel  among  the  Gentiles,  were  opposed  by  all  the 
wit  and  learning  and  sophistry,  all  the  pride  and 
jealousy  and  malice,  of  every  sect  of  philosophers. 
And  how  formidable  was  this  hostility,  is  obvious 
from  the  great  credit,  superior  even  to  that  of  the 
priests,  among  the  higher  classes  of  society,  which 
those  sects  had  obtained.  "Whoever  pretended  to 
learning  or  virtue,  was  their  disciple;  the  greatest 
magistrates,  generals,  kings,  ranged  themselves  under 
their  discipline,  were  trained  up  in  their  schools,  and 
professed  the  opinions  they  taught."^ 

7.  In  connection  with  these  powerful  adversaries, 
consider  the  character  of  the  age  in  which  the  apos- 
tles undertook  the  propagation  of  Christianity,  It 
was  distinguished  as  one  of  profound  peace  among 
the  nations,  when  the  minds  of  men  were  peculiarly 
capable  of  deliberately  investigating  the  claims  of  tho 
gospel;  it  was  the  Augustan  age,  when  philosophy 
thronged  the  cities  with  her  disciples,  and  every  de- 
scription of  polite  literature  was  in  the  highest  culti- 
vation. Its  peculiar  feature  was  directly  the  reverse 
of  credulity.  No  age  of  the  world,  before  or  since, 
was  so  extensively  characterized  by  scepticism.  While 
the  great  mass  of  the  plebeians  were  superstitiously 
given  to  idolatry,  the  patricians  were  no  less  corrupted 
with  opinions  which  went  to  the  denial  of  all  religion. 

*  Acts  17 :  18-32.  t  Lyttleton's  Conversion  of  St.  Paul. 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  333 

Among  the  various  schools  which  then  divided  the 
learned  of  the  Roman  empire,  those  which  declared 
openly  against  the  most  fundamental  truths  of  relig- 
ion were  much  the  most  numerous.  Of  this  descrip- 
tion were  the  Epicureans*  and  Academics:  the  former 
maintaining  that  the  soul  was  mortal,  and  that,  if 
gods  there  were,  they  took  no  care  of  human  affairs; 
the  latter,  that  to  arrive  at  truth  was  impossible — 
that  "whether  the  gods  existed  or  not,  whether  the 
soul  was  mortal  or  immortal,  virtue  preferable  to  vice, 
or  vice  to  virtue,"  could  not  be  ascertained.  These 
two  sects,  the  one  atheist,  the  other  too  sceptical 
even  to  believe  in  atheism,  were  the  most  numerous 
of  all  in  the  age  of  the  apostles,  and  were  particularly 
encouraged  by  the  liberality  of  the  rich  and  the  pro- 
tection of  the  powerful.^  From  this  prevalence  of 
philosophy,  **  falsely  so  called,"  the  age  was  distin- 
guished for  curious  and  bold  inquiry;  the  learned 
everywhere,  like  those  of  Athens,  spending  their  time 
in  little  else  but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new 
thing.*  It  was  also,  for  the  same  reason,  an  age  of 
special  contempt  for  whatever  claimed  to  be  received 
as  supernatural.  While  every  city,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  the  priests  and  magistrates,  was  wholly 
given  to  idolatry,  so  far  as  the  multitude  and  the  ex- 
ternal aspect  of  all  classes  were  concerned ;  yet,  in  the 
inner  schools  of  philosophy,  and  the  private  opinions 

*  Cicero  complains,  that  of  all  sects  of  philosophersj  this 
made  the  most  remarkable  progress  and  gained  the  most  adhe- 
rents.    De  Finibus. 

t  Mosheim's  Hist.,  part  1,  sec.  21.  *  Acts,  ch.  17. 


334  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

of  the  educated,  it  was  almost  entirely  pervaded  with 
scepticism.  Add  to  this  its  necessary  companion,  the 
universal  prevalence  of  unprecedented  luxury  and 
dissoluteness  of  living,  and  you  will  have  a  true  out- 
line of  the  character  of  the  age  in  which  the  apostles, 
by  *Hhe  foolishness  of  preaching,"  knowing  *^  nothing 
among  men,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified," 
were  to  **  destroy  the  wisdom  of  the  wise,"  and  con- 
vert whole  nations  to  Christianity. 

Most  evidently  was  the  age  peculiarly  and  entirely 
unpropitious.  Noj:hing,  on  human  calculation,  could 
have  been  more  certain  of  utter  rejection  and  con- 
tempt at  such  a  time,  than  the  simplicity,  spiritual- 
ity, and  holiness  of  the  gospel;  especially  its  two 
cardinal  points,  humble  repentance  and  submissive 
faith, 

8.  Consider,  next,  to  whom  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel  ivas  committed.  Who  were  they  that  re- 
ceived the  commission,  '^  Go,  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature,"  and  ^^make  disciples  of  all  nations?"  Men 
adapted  to  such  a  mighty  work  in  no  single  qualifica- 
tion, except  to  show,  in  their  weakness,  that  their  suc- 
cess was  altogether  of  G-od.  They  were  neither  phi- 
losophers, nor  orators,  nor  educated  men.  They  were 
from  a  class  of  mankind  denominated  by  the  ruHng 
nations,  barbarians ;  they  were  of  that  nation  among 
the  barbarians,  whom  all  the  rest  of  the  world  par- 
ticularly despised;  they  were  of  that  portion  of  the 
nation  which  was  least  esteemed  by  its  own  mem- 
bers. They  were  poor,  without  the  least  worldly 
consideration  or  influence.     They  were  acquainted 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  335 

with  no  craft  but  that  of  publicans  and  fishermen. 
They  had  never  learned  any  language  but  that  of 
Galilee,  and  yet  they  were  to  preach  to  people  of  all 
languages.  Such  were  the  men  whose  work  it  was 
to  assault  the  high  and  fenced  walls  of  Judaism — to 
break  the  power  of  heathenism,  though  entrenched  in 
the  vices  of  the  people,  upheld  by  the  craft  of  their 
priesthoods,  defended  by  the  power  of  all  nations,  and 
sanctioned  by  the  traditions  of  immemorial  ages. 
Such  were  the  men  who  were  to  go  into  the  proud 
schools  of  philosophy,  show  their  wisdom  to  be  fool- 
ishness, teach  their  teachers,  bring  out  captives  to  the 
humble  faith  of  the  crucified  Nazarene,  and  baptize 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  and  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

9.  Consider  the  circumstances  of  depression  and 
discouragement  in  which  they  commenced  this  work. 
The  enemies  of  their  Master  had  just  succeeded  in 
putting  him  to  the  shame  of  the  cross,  under  accusa- 
tion of  capital  guilt.  Their  taunting  language  to  the 
agonizing  victim,  **  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  come 
down  from  the  cross,"  shows  what  a  death-blow  they 
supposed  themselves  to  have  given  to  his  cause.  All 
his  disciples  had  forsaken  him  and  fled.  The  stone 
upon  the  mouth  of  his  sepulchre  was  not  heavier  than  i 
the  weight  upon  their  hearts,  when  they  beheld  him 
dead  and  buried.  After  a  few  days  they  assembled 
together  again  in  Jerusalem,  when  an  upper  room 
contained  the  whole  congregation  of  those  that  be- 
lieved in  Christ.  Their  cause  was  universally  sup- 
posed to  have  died  with  its  Master.     The  fact  that 


"336  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

he  had  not  "been  saved  by  the  power  of  G-od  from  the 
disgrace  of  crucifixiorij  was  regarded  everywhere  as  a 
perfect  answer  to  all  his  claims.  Such  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  propagation  of  the  gospel.  These  were 
the  desperate  circumstances  in  which  the  unfriended, 
unprotected,  ridiculed  apostles  were  to  set  up  their 
banner.     What  could  they  do  ? 

10.  Consider  the  mode  they  adopted.  They  sought 
no  favor  from  worldly  influence ;  courted  no  human 
indulgence  ;  waited  for  no  earthly  approbation  ;  paid 
as  little  deference  to  rank,  or  wealth,  or  human  learn- 
ing, as  to  poverty  and  meanness.  They  spoke  as  men 
having  authority — as  ambassadors  commissioned  from 
a  throne,  and  sustained  by  a  power  before  which  they 
had  a  right  to  demand  that  priests  and  philosophers 
and  kings  should  submit.  "  Not  with  enticing  words 
of  man's  wisdom,"  did  they  seek  to  advance  their 
cause,  but  in  simple  reliance  upon  *^the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Spirit."  Instead  of  selecting  such  doctrines 
as  would  best  conciliate  their  hearers,  and  concealing 
the  rest,  they  fixed  their  preaching  most  emphatically 
on  what  they  knew  was  the  special  topic  of  derision 
and  mockery  both  to  Jew  and  Greek,  glorying  in 
nothing  save  in  the  cross  of  Christ.  Instead  of 
seeking  retired  and  ignorant  people  as  the  subjects  of 
their  efforts;  instead  ot  a  double  doctrine,  as  the 
philosophers  had — one  thing  for  the  world,  another 
for  their  disciples,  a  part  for  the  novice,  the  whole 
only  for  the  initiated — they  kept  back  nothing  any- 
where, declaring  boldly  the  w^hole  gospel  in  the 
most  public  places  and  before  the  greatest  enemies. 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  337 

**  Jesus  and  the  resurrection"  were  preached  as  freely 
to  Epicureans  and  Stoics  in  Athens,  as  to  publicans 
and  sinners  in  Jerusalem.  Instead  of  accommoilating 
rlieir  declarations  in  any  degree  to  the  vainglorious 
and  vicious  characters  of  those  whom 'they  addressed, 
they  declared  the  wrath  of  Grod  to  be  *'  revealed  from 
heaven  against  all  ungodlienss  and  unrighteousness 
of  men."  To  every  soul  that  would  be  a  Christian, 
they  issued  the  requirement,  "  depart  from  iniquity," 
*' crucify  the  flesh,  with  its  aftections  and  lusts,"  and 
be  willing  to  be  esteemed  a  fool  and  persecuted  to 
death  for  Christ's  sake.  Such  was  the  mode  selected 
by  these  powerless  Galileans,  by  which  to  subdue  the 
fierce  opposition  of  the  proud,  self-righteous  Jews, 
and  to  make  Christians  out  of  Greeks  and  Romans, 
alike  devoted  to  degrading  vices  and  puffed  up  with 
the  conceit  of  superior  wisdom.     . 

11.  Now  let  us  see  in  what  manner  the  attempt 
to  propagate  Christianity  was  received.  It  was  met 
everywhere  by  the  most  strenuous  hostility,  and  the 
fiercest  persecution.  From  the  first  discourse  of  the 
apostles,  down  to  the  three  hundred  and  fifth  year  of 
the  Christian  era,  persecution  never  entirely  ceased, 
while  its  more  pubho  and  general  onsets  followed  one 
another  in  such  close  succession  that  the  church  had 
hardly  time  to  bury  her  dead  before  she  was  called 
to  prepare  more  candidates,  by  thousands  at  a  time, 
for  the  tortures  and  triumphs  of  martyrdom.  The 
preaching  of  the  apostles  began  at  Jerusalem,  and 
there  also  persecution  began.  Saul  hunted  Christians 
with  the  appetite  of  a  bloodhound.     Stephen  was  the 

Fvidences.  1 5 


338  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

first  victim.  Soon  the  brethren  were  scattered  far 
and  wide  by  the  fury  of  the  storm.  James  was  slain 
with  the  sword  ;  Peter  imprisoned  for  execution ;  Paul 
scourged  and  stoned,  and  pursued  so  continually, 
that  in  every  city  bonds  and  afflictions  awaited  him. 
Whatever  Jewish  hate,  goaded  on  by  a  jealous  priest- 
hood, could  do,  was. put  in  requisition  to  crush  the 
cause.  All  the  devices  that  Roman  governors,  sec- 
onded by  the  superstitions  and  passions  of  the  several 
nations  of  heathenism,  could  employ,  were  united  in 
the  one  business  of  driving  back  the  advancing  cause 
of  Christ.  His  disciples  were  calumniated  as  atheists, 
enemies  of  man,  murderers  and  devourers  of  their 
own  children,  and  as  guilty  of  the  most  loathsome  and 
horrible  practices.*  Instruments  of  torture  were  ex- 
hausted. Jews  and  Gentiles,  soldiers,  slaves,  govern- 
ors, and  emperors  racked  their  ingenuity  to  find  out 
new  ways  of  tempting  Christians  to  unfaithfulness ; 
and  when  they  were  steadfast,  of  increasing  their  ago- 
nies without  hastening  their  death.  Every  province 
and  city  and  village  was  a  scene  of  martyrdom.  The 
great  principle  of  the  ruling  powers  was,  that  this 
''superstition,"  as  they  called  it,  must  at  all  hazards 
be  put  down.  "  In  a  short  time,  the  punishments 
by  death  were  so  common,  that,  as  related  by  the 
writers  of  those  times,  no  famine,  pestilence,  or  war 
ever  consumed  more  men  at  a  time.'*     The  edict  of 

*  "The  Atheists/'  was  the  universal  name  for  Christians. 
To  the  charge  of  dire  hostility  to  all  religion,  was  added  that 
of  combined  rebellion  against  all  law  and  all  mankind.  '•  Irre- 
ligiosi  in  Csesares;  hostes  Cccsarum;  hostes  populi  Romani,'' 
was  their  universal  character  among  their  enemies. 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  339 

Trajan,  commanding  the  presidents  to  inflict  capital 
punishment  on  all  who  would  not  renounce  Christi- 
anity, was  never  abrogated  while  heathenism  reigned 
in  Rome.*  What  persecution  was  in  the  heart  of  the 
empire,  it  was  also  in  Africa,  Persia,  Arabia,  Capa- 
docia,  Mesopotamia,  Nicomedia,  Phrygia,  and  in 
almost  every  place  where  the  Christian  name  was 
known.  "  Those  who  suffered  for  the  cause  of  Christ, 
men,  women,  youths  of  both  sexes,  were  so  numer- 
ous as  to  be  estimated  only  in  the  mass."  "  In  tor- 
ments they  stood  stronger  than  their  tormentors ; 
their  bruised  and  mangled  limbs  proving  too  hard  for 
the  instruments  with  wliich  their  flesh  was  racked 
and  pulled  from  them  :  the  blows,  however  often 
repeated,  could  not  conquer  their  impregnable  faith, 
even  though  they  not  only  sliced  and  tore  off  the 
flesh,  but  raked  into  their  very  bowels."  Such  is  the 
description  given  by  one  of  those  who  thus  endured 
to  the  end.^  The  strong  language  in  the  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  is  eminently  applicable.  Some  "  were 
tortured,  not  accepting  deliverance ;  and  others  had 
trial  of  cruel  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  moreover, 
of  bonds  and  imprisonment :  they  were  stoned,  they 
were  sawn  asunder,  were  tempted,  were  slain  with 
the  sword :  they  wandered  about  in  sheep-skins,  and 
goat-skins;  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented:  they 
wandered  in  deserts,  and  in  mountains,  and  in  dens 
and  caves  of  the  earth." ^ 

Christians  were  often  the  victims  of  popular  fury, 

•  Lardner,  vol.  4,  p.  300.  t  Heb.  11  :  35-38. 

t  Cyprian. 


340  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

as  well  as  of  public  edicts  and  imperial  authority. 
Every  odious  slander  was  propagated  against  them 
for  the  purpose  of  instigating  the  rage  of  the  populace. 
The  evidence  of  abject  slaves  or  of  persons  forced  by 
torture  to  testify  as  an  incensed  community  desired, 
was  used  to  justify  the  most  dreadful  explosions  of 
vulgar  hate.  Did  a  drought  occur?  It  was  a  pro- 
verbial explanation,  that  *'if  God  refused  rain,  the 
Christians  were  in  fault."  Did  the  Nile  refuse  its 
annual  irrigation,  or  the  Tiber  overflow  its  banks? 
Did  earthquake,  or  famine,  or  any  other  public  ca- 
lamity excite  the  popular  mind  ?  A  ready  cause  was 
in  every  mouth — the  anger  of  the  gods  on  account -of 
the  increase  of  Christianity !  A  ready  sacrifice  to 
propitiate  the  offended  deities  was  immediately  re- 
sorted to — the  slaughter  of  the  Christians.  How  the 
better  informed  of  society  endeavored  to  stimulate 
the  mob  to  these  hecatombs  of  innocent  victims,  may 
be  judged  from  the  fact  that  *^  Porphyry,-  a  man  who 
wished  to  be  accounted  a  philosopher,  found  a  cause 
for  the  inveteracy  of  an  infectious  and  desolating 
sickness  in  this,  that  ^sculapius  could  not  exert  any 
effectual  influence  on  the  earth  in  consequence  of  the 
prevalence  of  Christianity  !"* 

Such,  then,  were  the  obstacles  which  opposed  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel.  Who,  in  anticipating 
them,  must  not  have  said,  "  If  this  cause  be  of 
man,  it  must  come  to  naught  ?"  Either  it  must  die 
a  natural  death  in  the  obscurity  of  its  birth,  or  be 
torn  to  pieces  at  the  first  onset  of  its  foes ;  or  else 
*  Neander^s  Ch.  Hist. 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  341 

it  must  be  of  God,  protected  and  advanced  by  his 
power. 

Before  proceeding  to  speak  of  the  success  of  the 
apostles,  we  may  deduce  from  the  premises  we  have 
established  a  conclusive  proof  of  the  power  by  which 
they  acted. 

It  is  certain  that  they  understood  the  difficulties^ 
and  anticipated  the  dangers  of  their  work.  As 
men  of  ordinary  understanding  they  must  have  fore- 
seen, while  by  the  predictions  of  Christ  they  were 
distinctly  apprized  of  the  obstacles  and  perils  they 
would  encounter.  Nevertheless,  with  a  perfect  know- 
ledge of  their  own  weakness,  they  undertook  to  propa- 
gate the  gospel  among  all  nations.  Why  ?  What  was 
there  in  reproach  and  beggary,  in  racks  and  prisons, 
in  wild  beasts  and  flames,  so  inviting?  Must  they 
not  have  been  sincere  in  their  professions  ?  Could 
any  thing  short  of  a  thorough  belief  that  Jesus  was 
risen,  and  had  promised  to  be  with  them  in  all  their 
labors,  have  induced  them  to  undertake  such  an 
enterprise?  It  is  impossible,  without  ridiculous 
absurdity,  to  question  their  entire  persuasion  of  this. 
But  is  this  a  proof  that  Jesus  was  risen,  and  that,  in 
divine  power,  he  was  with  them  ?  We  do  not  pre- 
tend that,  in  general,  the  fact  of  the  advocates  of  a 
doctrine  being  convinced^  is  valid  evidence  of  its 
truth ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  apostles  it  should  be 
thus  regarded,  inasmuch  as  they  could  not  have  been 
deceived.  Whether  Jesus  wrought  genuine  miracles 
or  not ;  whether  he  had  appeared  to  them  ''  at  sun- 
dry times  and  in  divers  manners "  after  his  burial ; 


342  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

whether  he  had  eaten  with  them,  conversed  with 
them,  journeyed  with  them  during  the  space  of  forty 
days  subsequent  to  his  death;  whether  they  heard 
and  saw  him,  at  the  end  of  those  days,  solemnly  give 
them  their  charge  to  propagate  the  gospel,  and  the 
promise  of  his  presence  and  power  wherever  they 
should  go,  they  must  have  known.  Consequently, 
when  with  such  undeniable  knowledge  and  unques- 
tionable sincerity,  they  went  into  all  the  world 
preaching  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  neither  deceived 
nor  wishing  to  deceive,  the  evidence  was  perfect  that 
they  labored  in  the  service  of  truth — that  their  faith 
stood  not  ^^in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power 
of  God." 

II.  Let  us  now  consider  the  success  of  the  apostles 
in  executing  their  Master^ s  charge.  On  the  fiftieth 
day  after  his  death  they  commenced.  Beginning  in 
Jerusp-lem,  the  very  furnace  of  persecution,  they  first 
set  up  their  banner  in  the  midst  of  those  who  had 
been  first  in  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  and  were  all 
elate  with  the  triumph  of  that  tragedy.  No  assem- 
blage could  have  been  more  possessed  of  dispositions 
perfectly  at  war  with  their  message,  than  that  to 
which  they  made  their  first  address.  And  what  was 
the  tenor  of  the  address  ?  ''  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  being 
delivered  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknow- 
ledge of  Grod,  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands 
have  crucified  and  slain ;  whom  God  hath  raised  up. 
Therefore  let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know  assuredly, 
that  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus  whom  ye  have 
crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ."     One  would  have 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  343 

supposed  that  the  same  hands  that  had  rioted  in  the 
blood  of  his  Master,  would  now  have  wreaked  their 
enmity  in  that  of  this  daring,  and,  to  all  human  view, 
most  impolitic  apostle.  But  what  ensued?  Three 
thousand  souls  were  that  day  added  to  the  infant 
church.*  In  a  few  days  the  number  was  increased 
to  five  thousand  ;^  and  in  the  space  of  about  a  year 
and  a  half,  though  the  gospel  was  preached  only  m 
Jerusalem  and  its  vicinity,  **  multitudes  both  of  men 
and  women,"  and  *^a  great  company  of  the  priests, 
were  obedient  to  the  faith."^  Now,  the  converts 
being  driven  by  a  fierce  persecution  from  Jerusalem, 
"  went  everywhere  preaching  the  word ;"  and  in  less 
than  three  years  churches  were  gathered  **  through- 
out all  Judea,  Galilee,  and  Samaria,  and  were  multi- 
plied."* About  two  years  after  this,  or  seven  from 
the  beginning  of  the  work,  the  gospel  was  first 
preached  to  the  Gentiles ;  and  such  was  the  success, 
that  before  thirty  years  had  elapsed  from  the  death 
of  Christ,  his  church  had  spread  throughout  Judea, 
Galilee,  and  Samaria ;  through  almost  all  the  numer- 
ous districts  of  the  lesser  Asia;  through  Greece  and 
the  islands  of  the  iEgean  sea,  the  sea-coast  of  Africa, 
and  even  into  Italy  and  Rome.  The  number  of  con- 
verts in  the  several  cities  respectively,  is  described 
by  the  expressions,  **  a  great  number,"  **  great  multi- 
tudes," "  much  people."  What  an  extensive  impres- 
sion had  been  made,  is  obvious  from  the  outcry  of  the 
opposers  at  Thessalonica,  that  ''  they  who  had  turned 

•  Acts  2:41.  t  Acts  5:14;  6:7. 

t  Acts  4:  4.  i  Acts  8:  4;  9:31. 


344  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  world  upside  down^  were  come  hither  also."  De- 
metrius, an  enemy,  complained  of  Paul,  that  *^  not 
only  at  Ephesus,  but  also  throughout  all  Asia," 
what  is  now  called  Asia  Minor,  "he  had  persuaded 
and  turned  away  much  people."*  In  the  mean  while 
Jerusalem,  the  chief  seat  of  Jewish  rancor,  continued 
the  metropolis  of  the  gospel,  having  in  it  many  tens 
of  thousands  of  believers.^  These  accounts  are  taken 
from  the  hook  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  hut  as 
this  hook  is  almost  confined  to  the  labors  of  Paul  and 
his  immediate  companions,  saying  very  little  of  the 
other  apostles,  it  is  very  certain  that  the  view  we 
have  given  of  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  during 
the  first  thirty  years  is  very  incomplete.  In  the 
thirtieth  year  after  the  beginning  of  the  work,  the 
terrible  persecution  under  Nero  kindled  its  fires; 
then  Christians  had  become  so  numerous  at  Rome, 
that,  by  the  testimony  of  Tacitus,  *'  a  great  multu 
tude^^  were  seized.  In  forty  years  more,  as  we  are 
told  in  a  celebrated  letter  from  Pliny  the  Roman 
governor  of  Pontus  and  Bythinia,  Christianity  had 
long  subsisted  in  these  provinces,  though  so  remote 
from  Judea.  *'Many  of  all  ages,  and  of  every  rank, 
of  both  sexes  likewise,"  were  accused  to  Pliny  of 
being  Christians.  What  he  calls,  "  the  contagion  of 
this  superstition,"  thus  forcibly  describing  the  irre- 
sistible and  rapid  spread  of  Christianity,  had  "  seized 
not  cities  only,  but  the  less  towns  also,  and  the  open 
country,"  so  that  the  heathen  temples  "  were  almost 
forsaken,"  few  victims  were  purchased  for  sacrifice, 
•  See  Paley's  Evidences.         ^  Acts  21  :  20.   '•^Troaai  fivpiadeg'* 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  345 

and  **  a  long  intermission  of  the  sacred  solemnities 
had  taken  place.*  Justin  Martyr,  who  wrote  ahout 
thirty  years  after  Pliny,  and  one  hundred  after  the 
gospel  was  first  preached  to  the  Gentiles,  thus  do- 
scribes  the  extent  of  Christianity  in  his  time :  "  There 
is  not  a  nation,  either  Greek  or  barbarian,  or  of  any 
other  name,  even  of  those  who  wander  in  tribes  and 
live  in  tents,  among  whom  prayers  and  thanksgivings 
are  not  offered  to  the  Father  and  Creator  of  the  uni- 
verse by  the  name  of  the  crucified  Jesus."  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  a  few  years  after,  thus  writes :  *'  The 
philosophers  were  confined  to  Greece  and  to  their 
particular  retainers,  but  the  doctrine  of  the  Master  of 
Christianity  did  not  remain  in  Judea,  but  is  spread 
throughout  the  whole  world,  in  every  nation  and 
village  and  city,  converting  both  whole  houses  and 
separate  individuals,  having  already  brought  over  to 
the  truth  not  a  few  of  the  philosophers  themselves. 
If  the  Greek  philosophy  be  prohibited,  it  immediately 
vanishes ;  whereas,  from  the  first  preaching  of  our 
doctrine,  kings  and  tyrants,  governors  and  presidents, 
with  their  whole  train  and  with  the  populace  on  their 
side,  have  endeavored  with  their  whole  might  to  ex- 
terminate it,  yet  doth  it  flourish  more  and  more." 

There  is  no  reason  for  diminishing  the  wonder 
which  this  rapid  success  of  the  gospel  so  necessarily 
excites,  by  the  supposition  that  all  these  conversions, 
or  the  greater  part  of  them,  were  little  more  than  a 
change  of  profession  and  name — the  substitution  of  a 
Christian  church  for  a  heathen  temple — a  mere  tran- 
*  Lardner,  vol.  4,  p.  13-15. 
15* 


346  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

sition  from  one  system  of  religious  ceremonial  to  an- 
other. In  times  of  fierce  persecution,  the  reality  of  a 
conversion  is  tried  *'  as  by  fire."  There  was  little, 
during  the  first  three  hundred  years  of  Christianity, 
to  encourage  a  profession  of  its  faith,  except  so  far  as 
the  heart  had  become  sufficiently  devoted  to  its  holy 
and  self-denying  duties,  to  be  willing  to  suffer  on 
their  account  the  loss  of  all  things.  Mere  cold 
assent  and  dead  formality  were  not  likely  to  put 
themselves  in  the  way  of  being  torn  by  wild  beasts 
or  buried  in  the  mines.  The  change  wrought  in  the 
converts  was,  for  the  most  part  and  notoriously,  a 
change  of  heart  and  of  life,  as  well  as  an  entire  change 
of  opinion.  The  striking  alteration  in  those  who  em- 
braced the  gospel,  bore  a  powerful  attestation  to  its 
divine  authority.  Philosophers  complained  that  men 
improved  but  little  in  goodness  under  their  instruc- 
tions ;  while  Paul  could  say  to  the  Christians  of  Cor- 
inth, a  city  famous  for  the  profligacy  of  its  inhabi- 
tants, *'  Such  were  some  of  you;  but  ye  are  washed, 
ye  are  sanctified,  ye  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  Grod."  ''  The 
doctrine  of  Christ,"  says  a  writer  of  those  times,  ^*did 
convert  the  most  wicked  persons  who  embraced  it 
from  all  their  debaucheries  to  the  practice  of  all  vir- 
tues."* So  remarkable  was  the  difference  between 
the  Christians  and  those  whom  they  had  once  resem- 
bled, that  Origen,  defending  their  faith  against  the 
attacks  of  Celsus,  challenges  a  comparison  between 
their  moral  character  and  that  of  any  other  societies 
*  Origen  coiit.  Celsum. 


PROPAaATlON  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  347 

in  the  world.  Even  the  sceptic  Gibbon  unites  in 
this  testimony.  Speaking  of  these  early  converts,  he 
says,  "As  they  emerged  from  sin  and  superstition  to 
the  glorious  hope  of  immortaUty,  they  resolved  to 
devote  themselves  to  a  life  not  only  of  virtue,  but  of 
penitence.  The  desire  of  perfection  became  the  ruling 
passion  of  their  soul.'^  "  Their  serious  and  seques- 
tered life,  averse  to  the  gay  luxury  of  the  age,  inured 
them  to  chastity,  temperance,  economy,  and  all 
the  sober  and  domestic  virtues.  The  contempt  of 
the  world  exercised  them  in  the  habits  of  humility, 
meekness,  and  patience.  The  more  they  "were  per- 
secuted, the  more  closely  they  adhered  to  each  other. 
Their  mutual  charity  and  unsuspecting  confidence 
has  been  remarked  by  uifidels,  and  was  too  often 
abused  by  perfidious  friends.  Even  their  faults,  or 
rather  their  errors,  were  derived  from  an  excess  of 
virtue."*  From  all  these  authorities  it  is  evident 
that  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  was  not  only  of 
great  rapidity,  but  of  great  power  in  transforming 
the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  multitudes  who  em- 
braced it. 

In  connection  with  the  moral  power  and  vast  ex- 
tent of  tliis  work,  it  should  be  considered,  that  among 
those  who  were  brought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ 
were  men  of  all  classes,  from  the  most  obscure  and 
ignorant  to  the  most  elevated  and  learned.  In  the 
New  Testament  we  read  of  an  eminent  counsellor, 
and  of  a  chief  ruler,  and  of  a  great  company  of  priests, 
and  of  two  centurions  of  the  Roman  army,  and  of  a 
*  Gibbon,  vol.  2,  ch.  15,  p.  138,  139. 


348  AriLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

proconsul  of  Cyprus,  and  of  a  member  of  the  Areop- 
agus at  Athens,  and  even  of  certain  of  the  household 
of  the  emperor  Nero,  as  having  been  converted  to  the 
faith.  Many  of  the  converts  were  highly  esteemed 
for  talents  and  attainments.  Such  was  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, who  while  a  heathen  was  conversant  with  all  the 
schools  of  philosophy.  Such  was  Pantsenus,  who 
before  his  conversion  was  a  philosopher  of  the  school 
of  the  Stoics,  and  whose  instructions  in  human  learn- 
ing at  Alexandria,  after  he  became  a  Christian,  were 
much  frequented  by  students  of  various  characters. 
Such  also  was  Origen,  whose  reputation  for  learning 
was  so  great  that  not  only  Christians  but  philosophers 
flocked  to  his  lectures  upon  mathematics  and  philos- 
ophy, as  well  as  on  the  Scriptures.  Even  the  noted 
Porphyry  did  not  refrain  from  a  high  eulogium  upon 
the  learning  of  Origen.*  It  may  help  to  convey  some 
notion  of  the  character  and  quality  of  many  early 
Christians,  of  their  learning  and  their  labors,  to  notice 
the  Christian  writers  who  flourished  in  these  ages. 
St.  Jerome's  catalogue  contains  one  hundred  and 
twenty  writers  previous  to  the  year  360  from  the 
death  of  Christ.  The  catalogue  is  thus  introduced : 
**  Let  those  who  say  the  church  has  had  no  philos- 
ophers, nor  eloquent  and  learned  men,  observe  who 
and  what  they  were  who  founded,  established,  and 
adorned  it."^  Pliny,  in  his  celebrated  letter  to  Tra- 
jan, written  about  sixty- three  years  after  the  gospel 
began  to  be  preached  to  the  Gentiles,  expressly  states, 
that  in  the  provinces  of  Pontus  and  Bythinia  many 
*  Stillingfleet'&  Orig.  Sac.  p.  273,  274.       t  See  Paley,  p.  346. 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  349 

of  all  ranks  were  accused  to  him  of  the  crime  of  being 
Christians.* 

We  have  now  prepared  the  several  facts  that  con- 
stitute the  materials  of  our  argument.  Here  is  an 
unquestionable  historical  event — the  rapid  and  exten- 
sive spread  of  Christianity  over  the  whole  Roman 
empire  in  less  than  seventy  years  from  the  outset  of 
its  preaching.    Has  any  thing  else  of  a  like  kind  been 

*  The  early  advocates  of  Christianity,  in  controversy  with 
the  heathen  of  Greece  and  Rome,  were  accustomed  to  dwell 
with  great  stress  upon  the  argument  from  its  propagation, 
(^'lirysostom,  of  the  fourth  century;  writes,  "The  apostles  of 
Christ  were  twelve,  and  they  gained  the  whole  world." 
'^  Zeno.  PlatOj  Socrates,  and  many  others  endeavored  to  intro- 
duce a  new  course  of  life,  but  in  vain;  whereas  Jesus  Christ 
not  only  taught,  but  settled  a  new  polity,  or  way  of  living,  all 
over  the  world. *^  "  The  doctrines  and  wtI tings  of  fishermen, 
who  were  beaten  and  driven  from  society,  and  always  lived  in 
the  midst  of  dangers,  have  been  readily  embraced  by  learned 
and  unlearned,  bondmen  and  free,  kings  and  soldiers,  Greeks 
and  barbarians."  "  Though  kings  and  tyrants  and  people 
strove  to  extinguish  the  spark  of  faith,  such  a  flanae  of  true 
religion  arose  as  filled  the  whole  world.  If  you  go  to  India 
and  Scythia,  and  the  utmost  ends  of  the  earth,  you  will  evei*y- 
where  find  the  doctrine  of  Christ  enlightening  the  souls  of 
men."  Augustine  of  the  same  century,  speaking  of  the  heathen 
philosophers,  says,  "  If  they  were  to  live  again,  and  should  see 
the  churches  crowded,  the  temples  forsaken,  and  men  called 
from  the  love  of  temporal,  fleeting  things  to  the  hope  of  eternal 
life  and  the  possession  of  spiritual  and  heavenly  blessings,  and 
readily  embracing  them,  provided  they  were  really  such  as 
they  are  said  to  have  been,  perhaps  they  would  say,  'These 
are  things  which  we  did  not  dare  to  say  to  the  people;  we 
rather  gave  way  to  their  custom,  than  endeavored  to  draw  them 
over  to  our  best  thoughts  and  apprehensions.' "  Lardner,  vol.  2, 
pp.  614,  597. 


350  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

known  in  the  world?  Did  the  learning  and  popu- 
larity of  the  ancient  philosophers,  powerfully  aided 
by  the  favor  of  the  great  and  the  peculiar  character 
of  the  age,  accomplish  any  thing  in  the  least  resem- 
bling the  success  of  the  apostles  ?  It  is  a  notorious 
fact,  that  only  one  of  them  ^'ever  dared  to  attack  the 
base  religion  of  the  nation,  and  substitute  better 
representations  of  Grod  in  its  stead,  although  its  ab- 
surdity was  apparent  to  many  of  them.  An  attempt 
of  this  kind  having  cost  the  bold  Socrates  his  life,  no 
others  had  resolution  enough  to  offer  such  a  sacrifice 
for  the  general  good.  To  excuse  their  timidity  in 
this  respect,  and  give  it  the  appearance  of  profound 
wisdom,  they  called  to  their  aid  the  general  principle 
that  it  is  imprudent  and  injurious  to  let  the  people 
see  the  whole  truth  at  once ;  that  it  is  not  only 
necessary  to  spare  sacred  prejudices,  but,  in  partic- 
ular circumstances,  an  act  of  benevolence  to  deceive 
the  great  mass  of  the  people.  This  was  the  unani- 
mous opinion  of  almost  all  the  ancient  philosophical 
schools."*  No  further  proof  is  needed,  that  such  men 
were  incapable  of  effecting  any  thing  approximating 
to  the  great  moral  revolution  produced  in  the  world 
by  the  power  of  the  gospel.  How  different  the  apos- 
tles !  boldly  attacking  all  vice,  superstition,  and  error 
at  all  hazards,  in  all  places,  not  counting  their  lives 
dear  unto  them,  so  that  they  might  *'  testify  the  gos- 
pel of  the  grace  of  God."  But  where  else  shall  we 
turn  for  a  parallel  to  the  work  we  have  described  ? 
What  efforts,  independently  of  the  gospel,  were  ever 
t  Reinhard's  Plan,  p^i.  165,  166. 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  351 

successful  in  the  moral  regeneration  of  whole  com- 
munities of  the  superstitious  and  licentious  ? 

The  only  event  in  the  annals  of  time  that  has  ever 
been  supposed  to  bear  any  resemblance  to  the  propa- 
gation of  Christianity,  is  the  rapid  progress  of  Mo- 
hammedanism. But  a  little  reflection  will  show  you 
that  the  single  fact  of  its  rapid  and  extensive  progress 
is  the  only  point  of  resemblance,  while  in  every  thing 
else  there  is  direct  opposition.  The  Koran  based  its 
cause  upon  no  profession  of  miracles,  and  therefore 
had  no  detection  to  fear.  The  gospel  rested  all  upon 
its  repeated  miracles;  and  consequently,  unless  it 
had  been  true,  would  have  been  certain  of  detection. 
Mohammed  was  of  the  most  powerful  and  honorable 
family  in  Mecca,  the  chief  city  of  his  nation,  and 
though  not  rich  by  inheritance,  became  so  by  mar- 
riage. Jesus  was  of  a  family  of  poor  and  unknown 
inhabitants  of  an  obscure  village  in  Judea,  and  had 
not  where  to  lay  his  head.  Mohammed  began  his 
work  among  the  rich  and  great.  His  first  three  years 
were  consumed  in  attaching  to  his  cause  thirteen  of 
the  chief  people  of  Mecca.  Jesus  commenced  among 
the  poor.  During  his  three  years  of  ministry  on  earth, 
twelve '  obscure  Jews,  many  of  them  fishermen,  all 
unlearned  and  powerless,  were  his  chosen  disciples. 
Of  the  first  thirteen  apostles  of  the  Koran,  all  ulti- 
mately attained  to  riches  and  honors,  to  the  com- 
mand of  armies  and  the  government  of  kingdoms. 
Of  the  twelve  apostles  who  commenced  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel,  all  attained  to  the  utmost  poverty, 
contempt,  and  ignominy,  and  all  but  one  to  a  violent 


352  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

death  on  account  of  their  cause.  The  age,  when 
Mohammed  set  up  his  banner,  was  eminently  pro- 
pitious to  his  enterprise.  "'  Nothing  can  equal  the 
ignorance  and  darkness  that  reigned  in  this  century."* 
Science,  philosophy,  and  theology  had  everywhere  de- 
clined into  almost  nothingness.  The  age  when  the 
apostles  of  Christ  began  their  work,  was  eminently 
unpropitious  to  any  cause  but  that  of  Grod.  It  was 
the  Augustan  age.  Mohammedanism  took  its  rise  in 
an  interior  town  of  Arabia,  among  a  barbarous  people, 
and  its  first  conquests  were  among  the  rudest  and 
least  enlightened  of  the  most  ignorant  regions  of  the 
world.  Christianity  arose  in  the  splendid  metropolis 
of  a  populous  and  intelligent  nation,  and  achieved  her 
earliest  victories  in  some  of  the  most  polished  and 
enlightened  cities  of  the  world.  In  the  town  of  Mecca, 
where  Mohammed  opened  his  mission,  there  was  no 
established  religion  to  contend  with.  In  the  city  of 
Jerusalem,  where  Jesus  and  his  apostles  began  their 
work  of  love,  an  established  religion  was  powerfully 
fortified  within  the  triple  wall  of  priest,  magistrate, 
and  people,  and  defended  by  all  the  powers  and  pas- 
sions of  the  nation.  When  the  prophet  of  Arabia  ap- 
.  peared,  his  cause  was  favored  by  the  feuds  that  pre- 
vailed among  the  Arab  tribes  around  him,  and  by 
the  bitter  dissensions  and  cruel  animosities  then  reign- 
ing among  various  sects  of  degenerate  Christians — 
dissensions  that  filled  the  greater  part  of  the  East 
with  such  enormities  as  rendered  the  very  name  of 
Christianity  odious  to  many.  When  the  great  Prophet 
*  Mosheim. 


PROrAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  353 

of  Christianity  appeared,  the  temple  of  Janus  was 
shut,  in  token  of  universal  peace,  so  that  all  the 
schools  of  philosophy,  all  sects  of  superstition,  and  all 
the  powers  and  animosities  of  the  nations  were  free 
to  combine  against  his  gospel.  Mohammed  attempted 
to  conciliate  the  prevailing  religion  of  the  empire,  by 
preaching  to  the  ignorant  generation  of  Christians 
that  his  religion  was  no  other  than  what  had  been 
originally  their  own.  The  unity  of  God,  the  pro- 
phetic character  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus,  he 
carefully  and  artfully  asserted,  pretending  to  restore 
the  purity,  instead  of  attacking  the  foundations  of 
the  religion  they  had  taught.  This  was  politic.  The 
apostles,  on  the  other  hand,  attacked  boldly  and  un- 
sparingly the  religion  of  all  the  world.  "While  assert- 
ing the  essential  principles  of  the  religion  of  Moses, 
they  aimed  directly  at  the  subversion  of  its  then 
degenerate  institutions;  and,  as  to  all  Gentile  nations, 
they  pretended  to  nothing  but  uncompromising  oppo- 
sition. This  certainly  was  any  thing  but  politic. 
Mohammed,  while  he  required  nothing  of  his  followers 
that  called  for  self-denial,*  expressly  sanctioned  and 
promoted  their  strongest  passions.  Impurity,  revenge, 
ambition,  pride,  were  his  cardinal  and  honored  indul- 
gences. Thus  he  enticed  human  nature.  I  need  not 
say  that  the  requisitions  and  allurements  proclaimed 

*  The  prohibition  of  wine,  the  fast  of  Ramadan,  and  the 
pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  were  no  part  of  Mohammedanism  until 
Beveral  years  after  its  commencement,  when  military  successes 
had  completely  established  its  authority. 


354  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

by  the  apostles  of  Christ  were  precisely  the  contrary. 
But  thus  they  repelled  human  nature. 

Even  with  all  these  advantages  in  his  favor,  Mo- 
hammed at  the  end  of  the  first  twelve  years  of  his 
enterprise  had  not  extended  his  cause  beyond  the 
walls  of  Mecca,  and  had  gained  but  few  disciples 
within  them,  because  his  efforts  had  been  confined 
to  persuasion.  While  Christianity  with  all  its  dis- 
advantages, in  half  the  time  from  the  beginning  of 
the  ministry  of  Christ,  could  number  more  than  ten 
thousand  disciples  in  Jerusalem,  and  churches  through- 
out all  Judea  and  Galilee  and  Samaria ;  and  yet  her 
cflbrts  were  also  confined  to  persuasion.  But  Mo- 
hammed, after  twelve  years  experience,  discovered 
that  even  with  all  his  indulgence  to  passion  and  pride, 
some  argument  much  more  cogent  than  that  of  per- 
suasion was  necessary  to  convince  the  nations.  This 
was  found  at  the  edge  of  the  sword.  He  sounded 
the  trump  of  war,  promised  the  spoils  of  nations,  the 
fairest  of  the  captives,  and  the  most  luxurious  arbor 
in  paradise,  to  those  who  would  join  his  standard. 
Then  proselytes  were  multiplied.  The  rovmg  Arabs, 
converted  to  the  faith  for  the  sake  of  the  plunder, 
flocked  to  his  cause.  Death  or  conversion  was  the 
only  choice  of  the  idolater.  *'  The  Koran,  the  tribute, 
or  the  sword,"  was  vouchsafed  to  Jews  and  Christians. 
Henceforward  the  demon  of  Mohammedanism  was 
always  seated  on  the  hilt  of  the  sword,  and  made  its 
way  by  force  and  slaughter.  How  and  why  it  pre- 
vailed both  rapidly  and  extensively  from  this  time,  I 
am  as  little  bound  to  explain  as  to  account  for  the 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  355 

martial  prowess  of  Napoleon,  or  of  the  Goths  and 
Vandals.  It  was  the  success  of  the  warrior,  not  of 
the  prophet. 

But  I  may  not  leave  this  subject  without  turning 
what  to  some  may  have  seemed  almost  parallel  to 
the  success  of  the  gospel,  into  an  auxiliary  illustra- 
tion  of  its  superhuman  power.  It  is  a  strong  fact 
in  evidence  that  Grod  was  on  the  side  of  the  apostles, 
that  when  they  had  every  thing  on  earth  to  contend 
with,  they  succeeded,  by  mere  efforts  of  persuasion, 
in  subduing  kingdoms,  and  bringing  innumerable 
multitudes  to  holiness  of  life ;  while  Mohammed  and 
his  apostles,  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances, 
were  confined,  as  long  as  they  used  no  weapon  but 
that  of  persuasion,  to  a  few  followers,  and  had  they 
never  taken  the  sword  would  probably  never  have 
been  heard  of  beyond  the  sands  of  Arabia. 

But  should  it  still  be  contended  that  the  success 
of  the  apostles  may  be  accounted  for  without  refer- 
ence to  supernatural  aid,  let  the  question  be  answered 
why,  when  the  same  human  means  have  since  been 
employed  in  so  many  instances,  nothing  even  approxi- 
mating to  the  same  results  has  ever  ensued.  Jews  are 
found  at  present  as  numerous  as  ever.  Some  of  the 
strongest  obstacles  which  opposed  the  success  of  the 
gospel  among  them  in  the  apostolic  age,  do  not  now 
exist.  They  have  no  religious  establishment,  no  reg- 
ular priesthood,  no  power  to  persecute.  Christianity, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  established.  Instead  of  appearing 
to  the  Jew  as  a  thing  of  yesterday,  advocated  but  by  a 
few  obscure  men,  as  she  did  of  old,  she  now  presents 


356  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

herself  under  the  sanction  of  eighteen  centuries,  illus- 
trated by  the  learning  of  her  disciples,  professed  by 
all  civilized  nations.  It  cannot  be  said  that  less  hu- 
man effort  in  the  aggregate  has  been  employed  for  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews,  than  was  used  by,  the  twelve 
apostles.  Much  more  money  has  been  expended ; 
much  more  learning  has  been  devoted ;  much  more 
human  power  has  been  exerted ;  many  more  individ- 
uals have  been  employed.  The  same  gospel  has  been 
preached.  The  same  arguments  have  been  urged. 
And  why  should  not  corresponding  effects  appear? 
"  There  is  reason  to  think  that  there  were  more  Jews 
converted  by  the  apostles  in  one  day,  than  have  since 
been  won  over  in  the  last  thousand  years."*  The 
simple  explanation  is  and  must  be^  that  the  great 
power  of  Grod  was  with  the  apostles  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  truth,  in  a  degree  far  greater  than  that  in 
which  it  is  now  vouchsafed  to  his  ministers  in  pro- 
moting the  wide  extension  of  truth. 

From  the  Jews  turn  to  the  heathens.  There  is 
no  reason  to  believe  that  the  heathenism  of  the  pres- 
ent day  is  any  more  opposed  to  the  propagation  of 
Christianity,  than  that  of  the  world  in  the  age  of  the 
apostles.  Instead  of  twelve,  there  are  hundreds  of 
laborers  in  this  field — men  of  education,  talent,  inde- 
fatigable zeal,  und-aunted  devotion.  The  art  of  print- 
ing has  furnished  them  with  facilities  of  which  the 
apostles,  unless  it  be  conceded  that  they  possessed 
the  miraculous  gift  of  tongues,  were  entirely  desti- 
tute. The  Scriptures  are  now  circulated  in  full; 
*  Bryant  on  the  Truth  of  Christianity. 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  357 

while,  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul,  the  canon  being  incom- 
plete, they  were  circulated  only  in  parts.  In  addition 
to  all  this,  Christianity  is  recommended  among  many 
heathen  nations  by  the  political  importance  of  the 
countries  from  which  its  preachers  have  gone,  and  in 
some  by  the  actual  cooperation  of  Christian  powers 
rilling  in  the  midst  of  pagan  institutions.  With  these 
important  advantages,  what  is  the  success  of  present 
efforts  among  the  heathen?  Enough,  indeed,  to  re- 
ward all  the  zeal  expended  in  their  support — enough 
to  show  that  still  the  power  of  God  is  with  the  gospel, 
and  that  ample  encouragement  is  given  for  all  the 
increase  of  effort  which  Christians  can  ever  bestow 
on  the  heathen,  but  nothing  comparable  with  the 
success  of  the  apostles.  Paul  was  instrumental  in 
converting  more  heathens  in  thirty  years,  than  all 
modern  missionaries  in  the  last  five  hundred.  Ex- 
plain this  fact.  It  is  absurd  to  attempt  it,  in  view 
of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  except  you  admit 
the  solution  given  by  Paul  himself:  '*  I  have  planted, 
and  ApoUos  watered,  but  God  gave  the  increase." 
"Without  this  grand  truth,  **Grod  gave  the  increase," 
Christianity  would  have  perished  on  the  cross  of  its 
founder. 

I  have  now  set  before  you  a  miracle,  the  evidence 
of  which  no  eye  can  be  too  blind  to  see :  Christian- 
ity universally  propagated^  and  yet  propagated  by 
no  earthly  influence  but  that  of  the  apostles.  This 
is  the  miracle.  It  is  as  directly  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  nature  and  to  universal  experience,  as  if  at  the 
word  of  man  the  desert  of  Arabia  should  bud  and 


358  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

blossom  like  a  fruitful  garden,  or  the  sepulchre  give 
up  its  dead.  As  long  as  this  one  fact,  the  propaga- 
tion of  Christianity,  shall  remain,  the  gospel  will  be 
supported  by  a  weight  of  proof  which  infidels  can 
remove  only  by  taking  away  the  foundation  of  all 
inductive  evidence,  and  bringing  down  the  whole  tem- 
ple of  human  knowledge  to  their  own  destruction. 

Now,  in  conclusion,  let  us  see  what  an  unbe- 
liever must  believe^  in  consistency  with  his  profession. 
He  must  believe  that  the  apostles  were  either  such 
weak-minded  men  as  to  imagine  that  their  crucified 
Master  had  been  with  them  from  time  to  time 
during  forty  days  after  his  burial,  had  conversed 
with  them  and  eaten  with  them,  and  that  they  had 
every  sensible  evidence  of  his  resurrection,  while  in 
truth  he  had  not  been  near  them,  but  was  still  in  his 
sepulchre ;  or  else  that  they  were  so  wicked  and  deceit- 
ful as  to  go  all  over  the  world  preaching  that  he  was 
risen  from  the  dead,  when  they  knew  it  was  a  gross 
fabrication.  Suppose  the  unbeliever  to  choose  the 
latter  of  these  alternatives.  Then  he  believes  not 
only  that  those  men  were  so  singularly  attached  to 
this  untruth  as  to  give  themselves  up  to  all  manner 
of  disgrace  and  persecution  and  labor  for  the  sake  of 
making  all  the  world  believe  it,  knowing  that  their 
own  destruction  must  be  the  consequence ;  but  also, 
what  is  still  more  singular,  that  when  they  plunged, 
immediately  at  the  outset  of  their  ministry,  into  an 
immense  multitude  of  those  who,  having  lately  cru- 
cified the  Saviour,  were  full  of  enmity  to  his  disciples, 
they  succeeded,  without  learning,  eloquence,  power, 


PROPAaATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  359 

or  a  single  conceivable  motive,  in  making  three  thou- 
sand of  them  believe  that  he  whom  they  had  seen  on 
the  cross  was  indeed  alive  again;  and  believe  it  so 
fully,  as  to  renounce  every  thing  and  be  willing  to 
suffer  any  thing  for  the  sake  of  it,  and  this  on  the  very 
spot  where  the  guards  that  had  kept  the  sepulchre  were 
at  hand  to  tell  what  was  become  of  the  body  of  Jesus. 
He  must  believe,  moreover,  that  although,  in  attempt- 
ing to  propagate  a  new  religion  to  the  exclusion  of 
every  other,  they  were  undertaking  what  was  entirely 
new,  and  opposed  to  the  views  of  all  nations ;  although 
the  doctrines  they  preached  were  resisted  by  all  the 
influence  of  the  several  priesthoods,  all  the  power  of 
the  several  governments,  all  the  passions,  habits,  and 
prejudices  of  the  people,  and  all  the  wit  and  pride  of 
the  philosophers  of  all  nations  ;  although  the  age  was 
such  as  insured  to  their  fabrications  the  most  intelli- 
gent examination,  with  the  strongest  possible  disposi- 
tion to  detect  them ;  although,  in  themselves,  these 
infatuated  men  were  directly  the  reverse  of  what 
such  resistance  demanded,  and  when  they  commenced 
were  surrounded  by  circumstances  of  the  most  de- 
pressing kind,  and  by  opposers  specially  exulting  in 
the  confidence  of  their  destruction ;  although  the  mode 
they  adopted  was  of  all  modes  most  calculated  to  expose ' 
their  own  weakness  and  dishonesty,  and  to  imbitter 
the  enmity  and  increase  the  contempt  of  their  opposers, 
so  that  they  encountered  everywhere  the  most  tremen- 
dous persecutions,  till  torture  and  death  were  almost 
synonymous  with  the  name  of  Christian ;  although 
they  had  nothing  to  propose,  to  Jew  or  Gentile,  as  a 


360  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

matter  of  faith,  but  what  the  wisdom  of  the-  world 
ridiculed,  and  the  vice  of  the  world  hated,.and  all  men 
were  united  in  despising;  although  they  had  nothing 
earthly  with  which  to  tempt  any  one  to  receive  their 
fabrication,  except  the  necessity  of  an  entire  change  in 
all  his  habits  and  dispositions,  and  an  assurance  that 
tribulations  and  persecutions  must  be  his  portion  ; 
yet,  when  philosophers,  with  all  their  learning  and 
rank  and  subtlety  and  veneration,  could  produce  no 
effect  on  the  public  mind,  these  obscure  Galileans 
obtained  such  influence  throughout  the  whole  extent 
of  the  Roman  empire,  and  especially  in  the  most  en- 
lightened cities,  that  in  thirty  years  what  they  them- 
selves (by  the  supposition)  did  not  believe,  they  made 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  all  classes,  philosophers, 
senators,  governors,  priests,  soldiers,  as  well  as  ple- 
beians, believe  and  maintain  unto  death;  yea,  they 
planted  this  doctrine  of  their  own  invention  so  deeply, 
that  all  the  persecutions  of  three  hundred  years  could 
not  root  it  up — they  established  the  gospel  so  perma- 
nently, that  in  three  hundred  years  it  was  the  estab- 
lished religion  of  an  empire  coextensive  with  the 
known  world,  and  continues  still  the  religion  of  all 
civilized  nations.  This,  says  the  unbeliever,  they 
did  simply  by  their  own  wit  and  industry ;  and  yet 
he  well  knows  that  preachers  of  the  gospel  with  in- 
comparably more  learning,  with  equal  industry,  in 
far  greater  numbers,  and  in  circumstances  immeas- 
urably more  propitious,  have  attempted  to  do  some- 
thing of  the  same  kind  among  heathen  nations,  and 
could  never  even  approximate  to  their  success.     Still 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  361 

the  apostles  had  no  help  hut  that  of  their  own  inge- 
nuity and  diligence!  Such  is  the  helief  of  the  unbe- 
liever. To  escape  acknowledging  that  the  apostles 
were  aided  by  miraculous  assistance,  he  makes  them 
to  have  possessed  in  themselves  miraculous  ability. 
To  get  rid  of  one  miracle  in  the  work,  he  has  to  make 
twelve  miracles  out  of  the  twelve  agents  of  the  work. 
Tha  Christian  takes  a  far  different  course.  Paul 
})lanted,  Apollos  watered,  but  Grod  gave  the  increase. 
The  weapons  of  their  Warfare  were  not  carnal,  but 
mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong- 
holds. To  which  solution  genuine  philosophy  or  com- 
mon-sense would  award  the  prize  of  rational  decision, 
it  is  easy  to  determine. 

The  argument  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
is  not  yet  complete.  Satisfactory  already,  it  is  yet 
to  receive  an  immense  accession  of  strength.  *'  The 
wilderness  and  the  solitary  place,"  the  immense 
regions  of  pagan  and  Mohammedan  desolation,  shall 
yet  be  glad  for  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  and  '^  the 
desert  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose."  Every  na- 
tion and  kindred  shall  be  brought  **  into  captivity  to 
the  obedience  of  Christ ;"  for  the  word  hath  gone 
forth  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord,  *'  I  will  give  thee 
the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession."  How  should 
every  heart  respond,  Amen ;  and  pray,  *^  Thy  king- 
dom come;  thy  will  be  done  on  earth,  as  it  is  in 
heaven." 


16 


'6G2  M'lLVAlNES  EVIDENCES. 


LECTURE   X. 

THE  FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

In  our  preceding  lectures  we  have  followed  the 
currents  of  three  independent  arguments,  each  of 
which  was  found  sufficient  to  conduct  us  to  a  com- 
plete proof  of  the  divine  authority  of  the  gospel  of 
Clirist.  That  to  which  we  now. proceed  is  especially 
capable  of  being  "  known  and  read  of  all  men,"  and 
deserves  to  be  ranked  in  the  highest  class  of  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity.  Our  blessed  Lord,  speaking 
of  false  pretenders  to  divine  revelation,  delivered  the 
following  rule  by  which  they  might  be  distinguished  : 
'*  Ye  shall  know  them  bi/  their  fruits.  Do  men 
gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles  ?  Even  so 
every  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit ;  but  a  cor- 
rupt tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit.  Wherefore  by 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  This  is  a  test 
universally  approved  of,  and  necessarily  employed. 
Its  influence  on  our  judgment  is  unavoidable,  and 
when  properly  applied,  its  results  are  certain.  The 
goodness  of  a  tree  cannot  be  doubted  while  we  know 
the  excellence  of  its  fruit.  No  more  reason  have  we 
to  question  the  holy  character  and  divine  origin  of 
religion,  while  its  legitimate  effects  on  the  lives  and 
hearts  of  its  genuine  disciples  are  holy.  We  may 
come  to  an  erroneous  conclusion  by  judging  erro- 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  3G3 

neously  of  the  fruit ;  by  ascribing  effects  to  causes 
which  did  not  produce  them;  by  charging  upon  re- 
ligion a  train  of  consequences  of  which  it  was  only 
the  incidental  occasion,  instead  of  the  natural  cause. 
But  these  are  errors  in  the  application,  and  independ- 
ent of  the  correctness  of  the  test.  Whenever  you 
have  ascertained  the  true  results  of  any  system  of 
doctrine,  you  have  found  a  plain  and  certain  expres- 
sion of  its  intrinsic  character.  It  is  good  in  propor- 
tion as  the  fruit  is  good.  If  its  fruit  be  godly,  it  must 
itself  be  of  God. 

Let  infidelity  be  always  tried  by  this  equitable 
rule,  so  as  to  receive  the  full  credit  of  all  the  evils 
which  may  easily  be  found  to  have  grown  upon  its 
branches — let  it  be  stripped  of  all  those  adventitious 
circumstances  of  a  favorable  kind  for  which  it  is  in- 
debted to  the  surrounding  influence  of  Christianity, 
and  few  eyes  will  fail  to  see  that  the  root  is  one  of 
bitterness,  and  the  tree  fit  only  to  be  cut  down  as  a 
cumberer  of  the  ground.  If'men  would  judge  Chris- 
tianity also  by  the  fair  application  of  this  rule,  care- 
fully separating  from  her  genuine  productions  all 
those  of  which,  however  enemies  may  love  to  lay 
them  to  her  charge,  she  is  only  the  innocent  occasion, 
it  would  require  but  little  discernment  to  be  con- 
vinced of  her  heavenly  origin,  and  of  the  duty  of  all 
to  spread  the  knowledge  and  acceptance  of  her  divine 
revelation.  Such  will  be  the  object  of  the  present 
lecture.  Christianity  may  be  known  by  its  fruits. 
Christians  are  desirous  that  their  faith  should  be 
judged  by  this  test,  as  well  as  by  every  other  that  is 


364  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

^  just  and  equal.  We  set  out,  therefore,  with  this 
question:  What  are  the  fruits  of  Christianity  ?  In 
the  examination  of  this  subject  we  will  consider, 

1.  The  effects  of  Christianity  on  society  in  gen- 
eral, 

2.  Its  effects  on  the  character  and  happiness  of 
genuine  disciples. 

Reserving  the  latter  of  these  divisions  for  another 
lecture,  we  devote  our  attention  at  present  exclusively 
to  the  former. 

I.    In    proceeding   to    illustrate    the    beneficiai. 

EFFECTS    OF    CHRISTIANITY    ON    SOCIETY    IN    GENERAL,    I 

know  of  no  way  so  direct  as  to  consider  in  what  con- 
dition the  countries  now  blessed  with  its  influence 
would  have  remained,  had  they  been  left  to  the  sev- 
eral forms  of  religion  under  which  they  had  pre- 
viously subsisted.  Let  us  take  a  brief  survey  of  the 
moral  state  of  the  ancient  world  in  the  age  when  the 
preaching  of  the  cross  effected  its  wonderful  revolution 
in  the  whole  fabric  of  society.  And  that  we  may  not 
be  accused  of  unfairness,  let  us  take  into  view,  not  the 
more  distant  and  uncivilized  provinces,  but  those  chief 
central  states  where  all  the  light  and  moral  vigor  of 
the  heathen  world  were  concentrated.  Let  our  survey 
be  confined  to  the  society  of  Italy  and  Greece,  where 
philosophy  held  her  court,  and  literature  and  the  arts 
were  cultivated  with  the  utmost  devotion  and  suc- 
cess. Unfortunately  for  the  interests  of  truth,  the 
history  of  Greece  and  Eome  has  fallen  for  the  most 
part  into  the  hands  of  writers  much  more  concerned 
with  their  intellectual  and  martial  prowess,  than  their 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  365 

moral  attainments  and  social  .virtues ;  so  that  while 
the  reader  is  occupied  in  admiring  the  acuteness  of 
their  schoolmen,  the  taste  of  their  poets,  the  perfec- 
tion of  their  arts,  and  the  warlike  character  of  their 
soldiery,  he  is  seldom  called  to  look  within  the 
inclosures  of  society,  and  inquire  how  they  lived, 
what  manner  of  men  they  were  in  their  families,  in 
their  social  relations,  in  their  moral  principles,  and 
their  private  habits. 

A  certain  eminent  writer  who  lived  in  the  ago 
to  which  we  refer,  addressing  the  people  of  Rome, 
describes  the  heathen  population  of  the  civilized 
world  as  given  up  to  the  vilest,  most  unnatural,  and 
beastly  affections;  filled  with  all  unrighteousness  and 
degrading  wickedness;  full  of  envy,  murder,  deceit, 
malignity ;  disobedient  to  parents ;  covenant-break- 
ers, without  natural  affection,  implacable,  unmerci- 
ful ;  not  only  committing  such  things  as  were  worthy 
of  death,  but  having  pleasure  in  them  that  did  them. 
Such,  according  to  St.  Paul,  were  the  polished 
Grecians  and  the  sterner  Romans.* 

1.  Consider  their  religion.  "  Professing  them- 
selves to  be  wise,  they  became  fools ;  and  changed 
the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  God  into  an  image 
made  like  to  corruptible  man,  and  to  birds  and  four- 
footed  beasts  and  creeping  things."^  Deities  were 
multiplied  till  there  was  a  god  for  every  thing,  and 
any  thing  answered  for  a  god.  Athens  was  full  of 
statues  dedicated  to  different  deities  ;  those  of  various 
countries  being  so  crowded  together,  that  it  was  said 

♦  Rom.  1  :  29-32.  t  Rom.  1  :  22,  23. 


866  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

to  be  *' easier  to  find  a  god  than  a  man."  There 
was  the  god  Caius  Caesar,  and  the  god  Augustus 
Caesar,  and  the  god  Lucius  Caesar,  and  the  goddess 
Julia,  the  profligate  daughter  of  Augustus,  to  whom 
the  rulers  of  Athens  ascribed  the  title  of  Providence, 
The  senate  of  the  Areopagus,  and  that  of  the  six  hun- 
dred, erected  her  statue  and  enacted  her  divinity. 
An  altar  had  there  been  consecrated  many  years 
before,  to  ''^  the  Unknoivn  Gody  Rome  exceeded 
Athens  in  the  number  of  her  gods,  only  by  having, 
as  the  mistress  of  the  world,,  all  nations  to  collect 
from  and  all  forms  of  paganism  to  countenance. 
**  The  deities  of  a  thousand  groves  and  a  thousand 
streams  possessed  in  peace  their  local  and  respective 
influence ;  nor  could  the  Roman  who  deprecated  the 
wrath  of  the  Tiber,  deride  the  Egyptian  who  pre- 
sented his  offering  to  the  beneficent  genius  of  the 
Nile.  Every  virtue  and  even  vice  acquired  its  divine 
representative,  every  art  and  profession  its  patron, 
whose  attributes,  in  the  most  distant  ages  and  coun- 
tries, were  uniformly  derived  from  the  character 
of  their  peculiar  votaries.  It  was  the  custom  of  the 
Romans  to  tempt  the  protectors  of  besieged  cities  by 
the  promise  of  more  distinguished  honors  than  they 
possessed  in  their  native  country.  Rome  gradually 
became  the  common  temple  of  her  subjects,  and  the 
freedom  of  the  city  was  bestowed  on  all  the  gods  of 
mankind."*  '^  In  this  mania  for  foreign  gods,  the 
nobles  and  the  emperors  themselves  set  the  most  cor- 
rupting examples.  G-ermanicus  and Agrippina  devoted 
*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  I,  pp.  32,  35,  36. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  367 

themselves  especially  to  Egyptian  gods.  So  also 
Vespasian.  Nero  served  all  gods  with  the  exception 
of  the  Dea  Syra.  Marcus  Aurelius  caused  the  priests 
of  all  foreign  gods  and  nations  to  be  assembled,  in 
order  to  implore  aid  for  the  Roman  empire  against 
the  incursions  of  the  Marcomanni.  Commodus  caused 
himself  to  be  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  Egyp- 
tian Isis  and  the  Persian  Mithras.  Severus  wor- 
shipped especially  the  Egyptian  Seraphis ;  Caracalla 
chiefly  the  Egyptian  Isis;  and  Heliogabalus  the 
Syrian  deities,  though  he  was  desirous  of  becoming 
a  priest  of  the  Jewish,  Samaritan,  and  Christian 
religions."* 

The  traditions  of  the  principal  divinities  of  the 
ancient  heathen  are  a  true  guide  to  the  vices  of  their 
worship.  What  the  gods  were  said  to  have  been  in 
their  lives,  their  worshippers  actually  were  in  their 
service.  **  It  is  a  shame,"  said  one  who  knew  them 
well,  **  even  to  speak  of  those  things  which  are  done 
of  them  in  secret."  The  chief  oracles  of  the  heathens 
appointed  human  sacrifices,  so  that  not  only  the  bar- 
barians, but  even  the  Athenians,  Lacedsemonians, 
and  Romans,  were  accustomed  to  worship  idols  with 
the  blood  of  their  fellow-creatures.  What  must  have 
been  the  state  of  public  morals  when  gods  were 
patrons  of  vice,  and  their  rites  encouraged  both 
cruelty  and  obsceneness,  it  is  easier  to  imagine  than 
describe.  '*'  Eusebius  is  compelled  to  use  language 
when  describino;  the  heiorht  of  wickedness  and  im- 
purity  which  the  ivorship  of  the  heathens  attained, 

*   Pi  of.  Tholuck  oil  Hcatliciiisni,      Biblical  Repository. 


368  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

such  as  no  virtuous  man  can  read  without  shudder- 
ing." The  gods  were  entreated,  hy  costly  offerings 
on  splendid  altars,  to  favor  the  indulgence  of  un- 
natural lusts,  the  perpetration  of  murders,  the  rob- 
bery of  the  orphan  and  the  widow.  Seneca  exclaims, 
"  How  great  is  now  the  madness  of  men.  They  lisp 
the  most  abominable  prayers  in  the  ears  of  the  gods. 
And  if  a  man  is  found  listening,  they  are  silent. 
What  a  man  ought  not  to  hoar,  they  do  not  blush  to 
rehearse  to  God."*  "Well  might  St.  Paul  describe 
them  as  *'  given  up  to  uncleanness  through  the  lusts 
of  their  own  hearts."^ 

2.  Consider  the  spirit  of  cruelty  that  reigned 
among  those  people.  It  was  not  solely  owing  to  the 
madness  and  depravity  of  a  Tiberius,  a  Caligula,  a 
Nero,  or  a  Caracal  la,  that  a  cruel  and  sanguinary 
spirit  in  their  day  was  so  universal.  Had  not  the 
whole  mass,  the  peasant,  the  soldier,  the  citizen,  and 
the  senator,  as  well  as  the  prince,  been  foully  tainted, 
the  monstrous  enormities  of  those  vicious  tyrants 
could  never  have  been  perpetrated.  Such  was  the 
cruelty  of  Romans  to  their  slaves,  that  it  was  not 
unusual  to  put  the  aged  and  useless  to  perish  on  an 
island  in  the  Tiber ;  and  some  masters  would  even 
drown  them,  as  food  for  the  inhabitants  of  their  fish- 
ponds.^    Scenes   of  blood    and    slaughter    were   the 

*  Epist.  10.  +  See  Potter's  Antiquities,  vol.  2,  p.  301. 

t  *'  The  custom  of  exposing  old,  useless,  or  sick  slaves  on 
an  inland  of  the  Tiber,  there  to  starve,  seems  to  have  been 
pretty  c;)mmon  in  Rome ;  and  whoever  recovered  after  having 
been  so  exposed,  had  his  liberty  given  him  by  an  edict  of  the 
emperor    Claudius."      "The   ergastiduy   or    dungeons,   whcro 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  3G9 

public  diversions  of  the  people.  Witness  the  shows 
of  gladiators  in  the  crowde  damphitheatre  ;  when,  to 
celebrate  a  birthday  or  gratify  a  popular  whim, 
crowds  of  captives  were  set  to  mutual  slaughter,  or 
else  to  contend  with  the  fury  of  wild  beasts.  "What 
must  have  been  the  moral  sensibility  of  those  nations, 
of  which  the  most  refined  females  delighted  in  such 
revolting  cruelties,  criticising  the  skill  of  the  ferocious 
swordsman,  and  exclaiming  with  enthusiasm  at  the 
graceful  stroke  that  opened  the  heart  of  the  van- 
quished, and  poured  out  his  lifeblood  upon  the  arena?* 
St.  Paul  describes  the  heathen  community  as  *'  full 
of  murder  and  malignity."  Hume,  speaking  of  **  the 
most  illustrious  period  of  Roman  history,"  says,  that 

slaves  in  chains  were  forced  to  work,  were  very  common  all 
over  Italy.''  ^'A  chained  slave  for  a  porter,  was  usual  in 
Home,  as  appears  from  Ovid  and  other  authors."  The  evidence 
of  slaves  *'  was  always  extorted  by  the  most  exquisite  torments." 
Hume  on  the  Populousness  of  Ancient  Nations. 

*  '•  Who,"  says  Hume,  *'  can  read  the  accounts  of  the 
amphitheatrical  entertainments  without  liorror  ?  or  who  is  sur- 
prised that  the  emperors  should  treat  people  in  the  same  way 
the  people  treated  their  inferiors  ?  One's  humanity  is  apt  to 
renew  the  barbarous  wish  of  Caligula,  that  the  people  had  but 
one  neck.  A  man  could  almost  be  pleased,  by  a  single  blow 
to  put  an  end  to  such  a  race  of  monsters."  Note  to  Essay  on 
the  Populousness  of  Ancient  Nations. 

How  Cicero,  "  the  mildest  of  all  pagan  philosophers  and 
orators,"  regarded  with  an  inhuman  approbation  the  cruelties 
above  named,  may  be  seen  from  his  sayings,  as  quoted  in  Jor- 
tin's  Discourses  concerning  the  truth  of  the  Christian  Religion. 
He  states  that  the  supplications  of  a  poor  wretch  begging  his 
life  on  the  arena,  only  made  the  spectators,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  the  more  violent  against  him.  and  the  more  set  upon  his 
death.  See  the  Oration  for  Milo. 
16* 


370  M'lLVAINES  EVIDENCES. 

*^  at  that  time  the  horrid  practice  of  poisoning  was  so 
common,  that  during  part  of  a  season  a  praetor  pun- 
ished capitally  for  this  crime  ahove  three  thousand 
persons  in  a  part  of  Italy,  and  found  informations  of 
this  nature  still  multiplying  upon  him.  So  depraved 
in  private  life,"  adds  the  historian,  "  were  that  peo- 
ple whom  in  their  history  we  so  much  admire."* 
Murder  was  in  common  practice  among  all  classes. 
"  Such,"  says  Gibbon,  "  was  the  unhappy  condition 
even  of  Roman  emperors,  that  whatever  might  be 
their  conduct  their  fate  was  commonly  the  same; 
almost  every  reign  is  closed  by  the  same  disgusting 
repetition  of  treason  and  murder."  Suicide  was  not 
only  extensively  practised,  but  advocated  as  a  right, 
and  commended  as  virtuous.  Seneca  pleaded  for  it. 
Cicero  was  its  advocate.  Brutus  and  Cassius,  with 
many  others,  both  defended  and  practised  it.  Cato 
is  praised  by  Plutarch  for  having  been  his  own  mur- 
derer. These,  in  their  day,  were  among  the  lights  of 
the  heathen  world..  What  then  must  have  been  the 
awful  deeds  of  darkness  among  the  more  ignorant 
populace  ? 

They  were  *'  without  natural  affection."  Nothing 
could  exhibit  in  a  more  appalling  light  their  utter 
annihilation  of  moral  principle  and  natural  affection, 
than  the  fact  that  '^the  exposition,  that  is,  the  mur- 
der of  new-born  infants,  was  an  allowed  practice  in 
almost  all  the  states  of  Greece  and  Rome:  even 
among  the  polite  and  civilized  Athenians,  the  aban- 
doning of  one's  child  to  hunger  or  to  wild  beasts  was 
*  Essay  on  Politics. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  371 

regarded  without  blame  or  censure."*  '^This  prac- 
tice," says  Hume,  "was  very  common;  and  is  not 
spoken  of  by  any  author  of  those  times  with  the  hor- 
ror it  deserves,  or  scarcely  even  with  disapprobation. 
Plutarch,  the  humane,  good-natured  Plutarch,  men- 
tions it  as  a  merit  in  Attains  king  of  Pergamus,  that 
he  murdered,  or  if  you  will  exposed,  all  his  own  chil- 
dren, in  order  to  leave  his  crown  to  the  son  of  his 
brother  Eumenes.  It  was  Solon,  the  most  celebrated 
of  the  sages  of  G-reece,  that  gave  parents  permission 
by  law  to  kill  their  children."^  Philosophers  sup- 
ported the  custom  by  argument.  Aristotle  thought 
it  should  be  encouraged  by  the  magistrates.  Plato 
maintained  the  same  inhuman  doctrine.  It  was 
complained  of  as  a  great  singularity,  that  the  laws  of 
Thebes  forbade  the  practice.  In  all  the  provinces, 
and  especially  in  Italy,  the  crime  was  daily  perpe- 
trated. From  one  end  to  the  other,  the  Roman  em- 
pire was  stained  with  the  blood  of  murdered  infants. 
Think  of  the  state  of  domestic  virtue,  when  such  was 
a  prevailing  inhumanity  of  parents — when  the  learned 
defended  it  as  wise,  the  magistrate  countenanced  it 
as  useful,  and  public  sentiment  regarded  it  as  inno- 
cent. Such  was  the  power  of  a  father,  by  the  Roman 
law,  that  his  adult  children  might  be  sent  to  the 
mines,  sold  into  slavery,  or  destroyed  at  his  wall;  his 
daughter  could  be  compelled  at  his  discretion,  to  for- 
sake a  husband  whom  he  himself  had  approved;  while 
his  wife  could  be  dismissed  at  pleasure,  and  for  cer- 

*  Smith's  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments. 

t  Hume  on  the  Populousness  of  Ancient  Nations. 


872  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tain  crimes,  some  of  them  of  a  very  trivial  nature,  she 
might  be  put  to  death.  The  authority  of  the  father 
was  that  of  a  despot;  the  subjection  of  his  family  was 
that  of  slaves. 

3.  But  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  as  notorious 
for  their  departure  from  the  lowest  grade  of  decency, 
as  for  their  savage  disruption  of  all  the  ties  of  natural 
affection.  Sallust,  speaking  of  the  Roman  youth  in 
the  time  of  Cicero,  says,  "  Luxury,  avarice,  and  pride 
enslaved  them;  they  wantoned  in  rapine  and  prodi- 
gality; undervalued  their  own,  and  coveted  what 
belonged  to  others ;  trampled  on  modesty,  friendship, 
and  continence ;  confounded  things  divine  and  human, 
and  threw  off*  all  manner  of  consideration  and  re- 
straint." "Men  and  women  laid  aside  all  regard  to 
chastity."*  "We  cannot  name  the  degrading  crimes 
which. in  .Greece  were  sanctioned  by  the  public  laws, 
and  at  Rome  were  practised,  in  the  time  of  Seneca, 
without  shame.  It  was  considered  a  singular  exam- 
ple in  Athens,  that  the  most  moral  philosopher  did 
not  indulge  in  them.  Even  Cicero  could  speak,  with- 
out  any  sign  of  disapprobation,  of  Cotta,  an  eminent 
Roman,  as  having  owned  an  habitual  addiction  to  the 
vileness  we  are  alluding  to,  and  as  having  quoted  the 
authorities  of  ancient  philosophers  in  its  vindication. 
There  was  no  species  of  degrading  crime  which  had 
not  its  attempted  justification  in  the  written  doctrines, 
and  its  shameless  perpetration  in  the  avowed  prac- 
tices of  the  wise  men,  and  such  as  are  usually  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  good  men,  of  the  most  civil- 
*  Rose's  Translation. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  373 

ized  nations  of  antiquity.  Quinctilian,  speaking  of 
the  philosophers  of  the  first  century  of  the  Christian 
era,  says,  "The  most  notorious  vices  are  screened 
under  that  name;  and  they  do  not  labor  to  maintain 
the  character  of  philosophers  by  virtue  and  study,  but 
conceal  the  most  vicious  lives  under  an  austere  look 
and  singularity  of  dress."*  Such  also  is  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  Plutarch,  with  regard  to  the  ancient 
philosophers  in  general.  Wliile  he  owns  that  they 
were  generally  noted  for  a  certain  infamous  vice 
which  we  cannot  name,  he  excuses  them  by  the  plea, 
that  they  improved  their  minds  at  the  same  time  that 
they  corrupted  their  bodies.  Lucian  and  others  unite 
in  this  representation.  Neither  Seneca,  nor  Xeno- 
phon,  nor  Plato,  nor  Aristotle,  nor  even  Socrates, 
whose  morals  have  been  extolled  by  infidels  as  sur- 
passing any  thing  in  the  Bible,  is  excepted- from  the 
revolting  account  of  these  writers.  Granting  that 
jealousy  and  calumny,  among  the  ancients,  included 
some  of  those  illustrious  names  under  a  charge  so 
degrading,  what  must  have  been  the  character  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  philosophers,  when  calumny  durst 
venture  so  far?^ 

Such  were  the  men  whom  our  modern  reformers 
w^ould  hold  up  to  the  public  as  patterns  of  virtue. 
*'They  opposed  each  other,"  says  Voltaire,  **  in  their 
dogmas;  but  in  morality  they  were  all  agreed." 
*'  There  has  been  no  philosopher  in  all  antiquity,  who 
has  not  been  desirous  of  making  men  better."  To 
the  truth  of  the  first  assertion,  we  have  no  reason  to 
*  Quinctilian,  Inst.  Orat.      t  See  M'Knight  on  Rom.  1 :  26, 27. 


374  M'lLVAINE^S  EVIDENCES. 

object.  In  a  sense  directly  opposite  to  that  in  which 
the  writer  intended  it  to  be  vmderstood,  they  were 
indeed  in  morality  all  agreed.  As  to  their  unani- 
mous desire  of  making  men  better,  we  can  only  say 
that  they  adopted  the  most  singular  means  of  effect- 
ing it.  A  Roman  citizen,  of  the  Augustan  age,  de- 
scribed them  as  those  who,  being  past  feeling,  had 
given  themselves  over  unto  lasciviousness,  to  work  all 
uncleanness  with  greediness.* 

We  have  now  exhibited  some  of  the  prominent 
features  in  the  moral  character  of  the  society  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  in  their  most  enlightened  ages. 
From  what  has  been  stated,  we  may  form  a  concep- 
tion sufficiently  accurate  of  the  condition  of  things  in 

*  Among  the  philosophers  of  the  time  of  Cicero,  the  Cynics 
were  held  in  great  repute,  and  were  widely  spread  throughout 
the  Roman  empire.  The  wise  man  of  this  school  '-gave  up  all 
human  relations  towards  mankind,  contemned  his  country,  his 
kindred,  and  the  joys  of  wedded  love,  and  sought  his  consolation 
in  a  self-complacent  beastliness.  One  might  see  these  beastly 
men  half-naked,  moving  about  everywhere,  with  a  great  cudgel 
and  a  bread-bag,  performing  the  animal  necessities  of  their  na- 
ture before  the  eyes  of  all;  thrusting  themselves  with  extreme 
rudeness  among  the  multitudes,  and  there  stepping  forward  as 
teachers  of  wisdom,  not  in  a  regular  discourse,  but  with  abrupt 
and  broken  language  of  vulgar  sport  and  derision."  And  yet, 
even  the  new  Platonic  philosophers  greatly  revered  Cynicism, 
and  represented  Diogenes  its  leader  as  a  godlike  man. 

Whoever  may  desire  a  more  extended  account  of  ancient, 
classic  heathenism,  in  regard  to  its  gross  superstition,  its  dis- 
gusting sensuality,  its  obscene  idols  and  ceremonies,  its  human 
sacrifices,  its  legalized  cruelties,  the  odious  vices  of  those  who 
conformed  to  it,  and  its  utter  impotency  for  all  purposes  of  moral 
improvement,  is  referred  to  an  article,  already  quoted,  on  the 
Nature  and  Influence  of  Heathenism,  by  Prof.  Tholuck  of  Halle, 
in  Nos.  6  and  7  of  the  Biblical  Repository. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  375 

all  those  departments  of  morality  on  which  depends 
whatever  is  important  to  personal,  domestic,  and  pub- 
lic happiness.  We  have  been  speaking  of  the  most 
cultivated  people  of  the  ancient  world.  Unspeakably 
darker  and  more  appalling  would  have  been  the  pic- 
ture, had  we  described  the  spirit,  habits,  and  pervad- 
ing crimes  of  any  other  pagan  nations.  But  we  are 
content  that  a  fair  representation  of  the  best,  should 
also  be  received  as  a  good  likeness  of  the  worst  com- 
munities of  ancient  heathenism. 

We  ask,  what  has  become  of  all  these  deep-rooted 
deformities?  Look  around  upon  the  countries  over 
which  the  influence  of  Christianity  has  been  exerted ; 
those  especially  where  the  religion  of  Jesus  has  been 
enjoyed  in  the  greatest  purity,  and  cultivated  with 
the  truest  devotion.  Where  are  the  remains  of  the 
abominations  we  have  described?  Crime  remains 
indeed,  but  only  in  hidden  dens.  It  shuns  the  light. 
Laws  do  not  afford  it  countenance.  Public  sentiment 
drives  it  into  concealment.  What  would  the  feeling 
of  society  now  say  to  a  show  of  gladiators;  to  the 
legalized  exposure  of  infants  by  the  hands  of  mothers; 
to  the  public,  deliberate  murder  of  worn-out  slaves ; 
to  the  justification  of  suicide  and  theft,  and  lying  and 
assassination,  and  the  acknowledged  practice  of  the 
most  odious  sensuahty,  by  those  who  are  looked  up 
to  as  the  moral  teachers  and  examples  of  society? 
How  would  idolatry,  with  all  its  cruelties  and  ob- 
scenities, its  profligate  deities,  its  human  sacrifices, 
its  hidden  mysteries  of  iniquity,  and  its  public  ritual 
of  vice,  affect  the  public  mind,  were  its  temples  and 


876  M'lLYAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

images  and  lascivious  ceremonies  now  set  up  in  our 
cities?  It  is  not  enough  to  say,  that  in  countries 
where  all  these  abominations  once  rioted  without  re- 
straint and  in  full  sympathy  with  the  public  taste, 
they  have  long  since  been  driven  away  with  abhor- 
rence. Positive  blessings,  in  every  form  and  for  every 
class  of  society,  have  risen  up  in  their  place.  A  meas- 
ure of  virtue  which  would  have  singled  out  an  ancient 
philosopher  as  a  wonderful  exception  to  the  rest  of 
the  world,  is  absolutely  necessary  at  present  to  a 
character  of  ordinary  decency.  Benevolence,  such  as 
was  not  known  in  Greece  or  Rome,  and  had  it  ap- 
peared, would  not  have  been  comprehended,  is  now  a 
matter  of  common,  daily  intercourse  between  man 
and  man.  An  incalculable  improvement  has  been 
effected  in  all  departments  of  human  affairs,  from  the 
administration  of  national  government  down  to  the 
most  retired  relations  of  the  family  circle.  What 
rulers  would  have  been  remarkable  once  for  not  doin<^, 
tlie  people  would  now  expel  them  for  attempting.  A 
spirit  of  equity,  moderation,  and  respect  for  the  inter- 
ests and  happiness  of  the  community,  is  required  in 
the  governments  of  countries  under  the  influence  of 
Christianity,  which  was  hardly  conceived  of  by  the 
nations  of  antiquity,  and  if  it  ever  appeared,  was  a 
marvellous  exception  to  a  general  rule.  Laws,  re- 
generated in  their  principles,  are  enacted  in  wisdom, 
and  executed  with  a  faithfulness  unknown  to  the 
heathen.  Instead  of  the  despotic  harshness  with 
which  a  father  was  once  permitted  to  rule  his  chil- 
dren and  his  wife  as  his  tools  and  slaves,  universal 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  377 

sentiment  demands  it,  as  necessary  even  to  decency, 
that  he  shall  be  kind  to  them  as  his  own  flesh,  and 
us  the  rightful  sharers  in  all  his  comforts.  Women 
have  been  elevated  from  the  rank  of  beasts  of  burden, 
to  an  equal  participation  in  all  the  refinements  and 
blessings  of  society.  The  condition  oif  the  dependent 
classes  of  the  community  has  been  raised  from  that 
of  contempt  and  oppression  and  utter  ignorance,  to  a 
level,  in  point  of  natural  right,  with  all ;  while  edu- 
cation shines  upon  their  dwellings,  and  religion  seeks 
their  souls,  as  worthy  of  all  sacrifices  which  Chi'istian 
benevolence  can  make  for  their  salvation. 

Efforts  to  provide  for  the  sick,  the  destitute,  the 
orphan,  the  widow,  were  unknown  among  the  an- 
cients. Rome,  Athens,  Corinth,  contained  no  hos- 
pitals, no  asylums,  no  public  charities,  no  systems  of 
gratuitous  education.  Such  deeds  of  benevolence 
were  impossible  among  a  people  who  were  accus- 
tomed to  look  upon  all  forms  of  human  suffering  with 
indifference,  and  to  derive  enthusiastic  amusement 
from  their  promotion.  In  vain  are  the  writings  of 
their  moralists  examined  for  exhortations  to  any  thing 
like  an  active  concern  for  the  poor  or  the  ignorant. 
An  orphan  child  was  no  object  of  public  compassion 
in  countries  where  orphans  were  daily  and  deliber- 
ately made,  and  left  to  perish  by  cold-blooded  aban- 
donment on  the  part  of  their  parents. 

But  what  new  sympathies  sprung  up  immediately 
where  the  gospel  prevailed.  It  was  made  the  duty 
of  the  whole  Christian  community  to  provide  for  the 
stranger,  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  aged,  the  widow,  and 


378  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  orphan.  For  this  one  object,  public  contributions 
at  the  time  of  divine  service  were  established,  and 
private  donations  were  multiplied.  How  much  such 
benevolence  was.  insisted  on,  may  be  judged  from  a 
passage  of  Tertullian,  where,  spealiing  of  the  impedi- 
ments which  aWJhristian  woman  would  encounter  by 
marriage  with  a  heathen,  he  says,  ''  What  heathen 
will  suffer  his  wife,  in  visiting  the  brethren,  to  go  from 
street  to  street,  into  strangers'  and  even  into  the  most 
miserable  cottages  ?  Who  will  suiSfer  them  to  steal 
into  prisons,  to  kiss  the  chains  of  martyrs  ?  If  a 
stranger-brother  comes,  what  reception  will  he  find  in 
a  stranger's  house  ?  If  she  has  alms  to  bestow,  the 
safe  and  the  cellar  are  closed  to  her." 

What  the  gospel  effected  in  promoting  benevolence, 
and  trampling  down  all  the  obstacles  of  selfishness 
and  fear,  when  good  was  hardly  to  be  done  but  at  the 
cost  of  life,  may  be  seen  from  the  following  represen- 
tation of  Dyonisius  bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  had  an 
opportunity  of  observing  the  contrast  between  hea- 
thens and  Christians  when  a  terrible  pestilence  was 
raging  in  that  city.  *'  That  pestilence  appeared  to 
the  heathen  as  the  most  dreadful  of  all  things,  as 
that  which  left  them  no  hope ;  not  so,  however,  did 
it  seem  to  us,  but  only  a  peculiar  and  practical  trial. 
The  greater  part  of  our  people,  in  the  abundance  of 
their  brotherly  love,  did  not  spare  themselves;  and 
mutually  attending  to  each  other,  they  would  visit 
the  sick  without  fear,  and  ministering  to  them  for  the 
sake  of  Christ,  they  would  cheerfully  give  up  their 
life  with  thcin.      Many   died,   after   their  care  had 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  379 

restored  others  from  the  disease  to  health.  The  best 
among  our  brethren,  some  priests  and  deacons,  and 
some  who  were  celebrated  among  the  laity,  died  in 
this  manner ;  and  such  a  death,  the  fruit  of  great 
piety  and  strong  faith,  is  hardly  inferior  to  martyr- 
dom. Many  who  took  the  bodies  of  their  Christian 
brethren  into  their  hands  and  bosoms,  closed  their 
mouth  and  eyes,  and  buried  them  with  every  atten- 
tion, soon  followed  them  in  death.  But  with  the 
heathen,  matters  stood  quite  differently:  at  the  first 
symptom  of  sickness,  they  drove  a  man  from  their 
society ;  they  tore  themselves  away  from  their  dearest 
connections  ;  they  threw  the  half  dead  into  the  streets, 
and  left  the  dead  unburied ;  endeavoring  by  all  the 
means  in  their  power  to  escape  contagion — which, 
notwithstanding  all  their  contrivances,  it  was  very 
difficult  for  them  to  accomplish." 

*'  In  the  same  manner,"  writes  Neander,  from 
whose  Church  History  the  above  is  taken,  "the  Chris- 
tians of  Carthage  let  the  light  of  their  love  and  Chris- 
tian conduct  shine  before  the  heathen  in  a  pestilence 
which  visited  North  Africa  a  little  before,  in  the  reign 
of  G alius.  The  heathen,  out  of  cowardice,  left  the 
sick  and  the  dying;  the  streets  were  full  of  corpses, 
which  no  man  dared  to  bury;  and  avarice  was  the 
only  passion  which  mastered  the  fear  of  death,  for 
wicked  men  endeavored  to  make  a  gain  out  of  the 
misfortunes  of  their  neighbors;  and  the  heathen  ac- 
cused the  Christians  of  being  the  cause  of  this  calam- 
ity as  enemies  of  the  gods,  instead  of  being  brought 
by  it  to  the  consciousness  of  their  own  guilt  and  cor- 


380  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

ruption.  But  Cyprian  required  of  his  church  that 
they  should  behold,  in  this  desolating  pestilence,  a 
trial  of  their  dispositions.  '  How  necessary  is  it,  my 
dearest  brethren,'  he  says  to  them,  <  that  this  pesti- 
lence, which  appears  to  bring  horror  and  destruction, 
should  prove  the  consciences  of  men.  It  will  deter- 
mine whether  the  healthy  will  take  care  of  the  sick, 
whether  relations  bear  tender  love  one  to  another, 
and  whether  masters  care  for  their  sick  servants.' 
That  the  Christians  should  show  a  spirit  of  mutual 
love  among  themselves,  was  not  sufficient  to  satisfy 
a  bishop  who  formed  his  notions  after  the  model  of 
the  great  Shepherd.  He  therefore  called  his  church 
together,  and  addressed  them  thus :  '  If  we  do  good 
only  to  our  own  people,  we  do  no  more  than  publicans 
and  heathens.  But  if  we  are  the  children  of  God, 
who  makes  his  sun  shine  and  his  rain  tp  descend 
upon  the  just  and  the  unjust;  who  sheds  abroad  his 
blessings  not  on  his  own  alone,  but  even  upon  those 
whose  thoughts  are  far  from  him,  we  must  show 
this  by  our  actions,  endeavoring  to  become  perfect 
as  our  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,  and  blessing  those 
who  curse,  and  doing  good  to  those  who  persecute 
us.'  Encouraged  by  this  paternal  admonition,  the 
members  of  the  church  addressed  themselves  to  the 
work,  the  rich  contributing  money  and  the  poor 
their  labor ;  so  that  in  a  short  time  the  streets  were 
cleared  of  the  corpses  who  filled  them,  and  the  city 
saved  from  the  dangers  of  a  universal  pestilence."* 
That  the  spirit  of  primitive  Christians  is  still 
*  Rose's  translation  of  Neander's  Church  History 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  381 

the  characteristic  spirit  of  Christianity,  in  regard  to 
all  works  of  charity,  may  easily  he  seen.  Go  where 
the  gospel  has  attained  the  greatest  supremacy,  and 
hehold  how  every  form  of  human  misery  is  met  hy 
the  self-denying  diligence,  and  comforted  hy  the  mu- 
nificence of  the  benevolent.  What  conceivable  method 
of  removing  distress,  of  preventing  vice,  and  dissemi- 
nating happiness  has  not  been  put  in  operation  ? 
The  whole  Roman  empire  had  not  one  benevolent 
institution.  The  single  city  of  London  counts  her 
more  than  three  hundred.  And  why  is  so  Httle  said 
or  thought  of  them,  except  that  the  public  mind  has 
become  so  accustomed  to  the  noblest  efforts  of  benev- 
olence, that  they  are  now  regarded  almost  as  matters 
of  course — the  natural  consequence  of  prevailing  prin- 
ciples of  brotherly  kindness  and  charity? 

It  is  not  my  design  to  exhibit  any  thing  like  a 
full-length  portrait  of  the  contrast  between  the  civil- 
ization of  modern  and  that  of  ancient  nations.  It  is 
seen  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  in  the  whole  fabric 
of  society,  from  the  government  of  the  family  to  that 
of  the  state — from  the  tender  cares  of  the  cradle  and 
the  mother  to  the  wide  concerns  of  communities  and 
rulers.  Every  thing  has  felt  the  change.  Though 
not  perfect,  it  is  immense.  Much  remains  to  be  done, 
but  mighty  improvements  have  been  effected.  Were 
the  whole  work  undone — should  the  sun  which  now 
enlightens  the  moral  world  be  commanded  to  go  back, 
and  suffer  the  classic  paganism  of  Greece  and  Rome 
to  resume  its  sway,  every  joint  in  the  mechanism  of 
society  would  groan  with  pain,  every  corner  in  the 


382  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

household  of  civilized  beings  would  be  filled  with 
darkness :  the  transition  from  the  arts  and  literature 
of  England  to  those  of  the  Hottentots,  would  not  be 
greater  than  such  a  change  from  the  moral  elevation 
of  the  present  age,  to  the  highest  refinements  of  the 
purest  nations  of  antiquity. 

Such  is  the  fact.  It  remains  to  be  accounted  for. 
"What  produced  this  change  ?  The  religion  of  ancient 
heathens  pleads  '*not  guilty"  to  the  charge.  It  had 
no  reference  to  morals.  The  vilest  crimes  and  the 
highest  repute  for  piety  were  perfectly  consistent  with 
each  other  among  heathens  of  the  Augustan  age.  It 
was  no  part  of  the  business  of  their  priests  to  teach 
men  virtue.  No  religion  but  that  of  the  Bible  ever 
possessed  or  aimed  at  the  power  of  reformation. 
Equally  clear  are  the  literature  and  philosophy  and 
arts  of  antiquity  from  the  imputation  of  this  mighty 
revolution.  Never  did  they  prevail  so  extensively 
atnong  the  heathen  as  in  the  first  century  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  never  were  they  accompanied  with  such 
moral  degradation.  Philosophy  had  as  little  disposi- 
tion as  ability  to  reform.  Whatever  light  it  may 
have  possessed  it  monopolized,  holding  its  truth  in 
unrighteousness,  and  studiously  conforming  its  prac- 
tice to  the  worst  abominations.  ''  Cicero  declares 
that  the  ancient  philosophers  never  reformed  either 
themselves  or  their  disciples ;  and  that  he  knew  not 
a  single  instance  in  which  either  the  teacher  or  the 
disciple  was  made  virtuous  by  their  principles."* 

*  Dwight  on  Infidel  Philosophy. 

"  In  their  writings  and  conversation,  the  philosophers  of  an- 


-    FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  383 

But  it  may  be  supposed,  that  without  any  other 
cause  than  its  own  natural  fluctuation,  the  moral 
condition  of  ancient  nations  may  have  taken  a  change, 
like  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  and  begun  to  rise  from 
the  mere  fact  of  being  reduced  to  so  low  an  ebb. 
Answer  this  by  the  present  state  of  those  nations  that 
have  continued  under  the  native  influence  of  pagan- 
ism. In  which  of  them  has  such  a  thing  ever  been 
known  as. a  reformation  of  public  morals?  Their 
unvaried  history  from  the  days  of  Moses  to  the  pres- 
ent settles  the  matter,  that  heathenism  has  no  power 
but  of  progressive  corruption ;  and  left  to  itself,  can 
only  reduce  its  votaries  into  deeper  and  deeper  debase- 
ment. Then,  if  the  vast  improvement  in  question  is 
neither  the  consequence  of  the  religion,  nor  the  phi- 
losophy, nor  the  arts,  nor  the  literature,  nor  of  any 
natural  reaction  in  the  moral  state  of  the  ancient 
heathen,  to  what  other  cause  must  it  be  assigned? 

tiquity  asserted  the  independent  dignity  of  reason,  but  they 
resigned  their  actions  to  the  commands  of  law  and  custom. 
Viewing  with  a  smile  of  pity  and  indulgence  the  various  errors 
of  the  vulgar,  they  diligently  practised  the  ceremonies  of  their 
fathers,  devoutly  frequented  the  temples  of  the  gods ;  and  some- 
times condescending  to  act  a  part  on  the  theatre  of  superstition, 
they  concealed  the  sentiments  of  an  Atheist  under  the  sacer- 
dotal robes.  It  was  indifferent  to  them  what  shape  the  folly  of 
the  multitude  might  choose  to  assume,  and  they  approached 
with  the  same  inward  contempt  and  the  same  external  rever- 
ence the  altars  of  the  Lybian,  the  Olympian,  or  the  Capitoline 
Jupiter.'^     Gibbon's  History,  vol.  1.  p.  34. 

A  sorry  tribute,  by  a  philosopher,  to  the  benevolence  and 
honesty  of  his  ancient  brethren.  Paul  would  have  drawn  their 
picture  with  a  darker  pencil  still.  Paul's  Ma.ster  would  have 
named  them  "hypocrites,''  "whited  sepulchres." 


384  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

History  has  but  one  answer.  Reason  has  but  one  an- 
swer. Christianity  alone — single-handed,  persecuted 
Christianity,  by  the  agency  of  twelve  obscure  Jews, 
began  the  wonderful  change,  and  under  the  favor  of 
God  has  accomplished  its  every  step  of  advancement. 
Till  such  a  thing  as  the  religion  of  Christ  appeared  in 
the  world,  a  reformation  of  heathen  society  was  never 
dreamed  of.  Till  Christians  appeared  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, none  had  ever  adventured,  none  were  ever  dis- 
posed, to  labor  for  the  improvement  of  mankind.  Chris- 
tian writers  wore  the  first  that  dared  to  drag  the  abom- 
inations of  classic  antiquity  to  light,  and  brand  them 
with  the  condemnation  of  truth  and  righteousness. 
The  first  Christian  emperor  issued  the  first  prohibition 
of  inhuman  practices  and  amusements,  which  many 
centuries  had  sanctioned.  Till  the  gospel  set  up  its 
churches  and  gathered  its  disciples,  the  gentile  world 
had  never  seen  such  a  spectacle  as  that  of  a  society 
united  by  bands  of  love,  shining  in  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness, animated  with  zeal  to  do  good  at  the  expense  of 
self-denial  and  sacrifice. 

How  exclusively  the  happy  effects  of  which  we 
have  been  speaking  are  the  fruit  of  Christianity,  is 
evident  from  the  fact,  that  when  you  take  up  a  map 
of  the  world  and  mark  out  the  boundaries  of  Christen- 
dom, you  mark  also  the  boundaries  of  all  civilization 
and  refinement;  that  as  you  approach  the  regions 
where  the  Bible  is  best  known  and  most  obeyed,  you 
perceive  a  rapid  increase  of  all  the  virtues  and  char- 
ities and  blessings  of  which  the  society  of  man  is  ca- 
pable ;  that  the  highest  elevation  of  the  human  char- 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  385 

acter  is  where  Christianity  reigns  in  her  purest  form, 
and  the  blackest  page  in  the  history  of  Christendom, 
the  page  most  polluted  with  vice,  and  red  with  cruelty 
and  murder,  is  the  record  of  the  people  who  trampled 
down  the  institutions  of  the  gospel,  decreed  the  living 
God  out  of  existence,  and  attempted  to  raise  the 
deities  of  ancient  paganism  from  the  dead.  That 
many  individuals  who  deny  the  truth,  and  profess  to 
be  free  from  the  influence  of  Christianity,  are  decent 
men  and  far  removed  from  the  condition  of  the  hea- 
then in  point  of  moral  precept,  as  well  as  practice,  is 
no  evidence  against  our  position.  The  light  of  Chris- 
tianity is  all  about  them,  and  they  cannot  help  seeing 
by  its  aid.  They  have  learned  Christian  truth  from 
their  childhood,  and  it  cannot  be  unlearned.  Do 
what  they  may,  they  cannot  think  or  act  without  its 
influence.  They  may  boast  the  sufficiency  of  their 
own  reason,  but  they  can  no  more  exercise  their  rea- 
son without  the  aid  of  revelation,  than  they  can 
breathe  the  air  of  spring  without  the  fragrance  of  its 
flowers.  "  On  all  questions  of  morality  and  religion, 
the  streams  of  thought  have  flowed  through  channels 
enriched  with  a  celestial  ore,  whence  they  have  de- 
rived the  tincture  to  which  they  are  indebted  for  their 
rarest  and  most  salutary  quaUties."*  "What  a  com- 
munity of  Deists  w^ould  be  without  Christianity,  can 
only  be  known  by  remembering  what  Deists  were 
before  Christianity  came  into  the  world,  and  what 
they  became  when,  in  France,  they  supposed  they  had 
almost  banished  her  from  the  earth. 
*  Robert  Hall. 

Evidences  ]  7 


386  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

How  remarkable  are  the  confessions  of  infidels  to 
the  excellent  fruit  and  indispensable  influence  of  the 
gospel.  Bolingbroke  acknowledges,  that ''  Constantino 
acted  the  part  of  a  sound  politician  in  protecting 
Christianity,  as  it  tended  to  give  firmness  and  solid- 
ity to  his  empire,  softened  the  ferocity  of  the  army, 
and  reformed  the  licentiousness  of  the  provinces,  and 
by  infusing  a  spirit  of  moderation  and  submission  to 
government,  tended  to  extinguish  those  principles  of 
avarice  and  ambition,  injustice  and  violence,  by  which 
so  many  factions  were  formed."  *'No  religion,"  says 
the  same  opposer  of  Christianity,  '^ever  appeared  in 
the  world,  whose  natural  tendency  was  so  much  di- 
rected to  promote  the  peace  and  happiness  of  mankind. 
It  makes  right  reason  a  law  in  every  possible  definition 
of  the  word.  And  therefore,  even  supposing  it  to 
have  been  purely  a  human  invention,  it  had  been  the 
most  amiable  and  the  most  useful  invention  that  was 
ever  imposed  on  mankind  for  their  good."  Thus  even 
Rousseau:  *'If  all  were  perfect  Christians,  individ- 
uals would  do  their  duty ;  the  people  would  be  obe- 
dient to  the  laws;  the  magistrates  incorrupt;  and 
there  would  be  neither  vanity  nor  luxury  in  such  a 
state."  Such  are  the  confessions  of  many  other 
writers  of  the  same  class.  And  yet,  these  men  would 
run  the  ploughshare  through  the  foundations  of  the 
church  of  Christ,  so  that  one  stone  should  not  be  left 
upon  another.  So  much  for  the  consistency,  the  vir- 
tue, and  disinterested  benevolence  of  infidelity ;  or 
rather,  so  much  for  the  contradiction  between  its 
head  and  its  heart,  its  convictions  and  its  vices. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  387 

I  know  of  nothing,  in  the  way  of  fact,  more  strik- 
ingly illustrative  of  the  legitimate  fruits  of  Christian- 
ity, more  completely  in  proof  that  all  the  social  and 
moral  blessings  which  civilized  nations  at  present  en- 
joy are  to  be  ascribed  to  her  influence,  and  that  what 
she  once  was,  as  a  tree  of  life  to  the  nations,  she  is 
now,  and  ever  will  be,  than  the  history  of  the  mis- 
sions among  the  heathen  which  Protestant  Christians 
are  now  sustaining.  Here  we  have  experiments  of 
her  power  in  all  climates,  over  all  habits  and  dispo- 
sitions, and  with  all  classes  of  mind.  She  has  gone 
in  among  the  ice-bound  inhabitants  of  G-reenland, 
whose  intellect  was  as  slow  and  sleepy  and  creeping 
as  the  seals  they  lived  on,  and  whose  hearts  were  as 
barren  and  cold  as  their  perpetual  snows.  She  has 
entered  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  ex- 
treme of  Africa,  the  Hottentots,  the  very  lowest  grada- 
tion of  human  nature,  whose  souls  were  supposed  to 
be  as  incapable  of  enlightening  and  enlargement  as 
the  instincts  of  the  vermin  that  covered  them.  She 
has  tried  her  powers  among  the  ferocious  tribes  of 
American  Indians — upon  warriors  nourished  with 
blood,  and  breathing  a  spirit  of  slaughter  which  no 
sufferings  nor  dangers  could  ever  tame.  She  has 
lifted  up  her  voice  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  among 
savfiges,  uniting  with  the  most  inhuman  idolatry  the 
most  beastly  vices  and  unnatural  cruelties ;  and  from 
all  this  heterogeneous  display  of  unshapen  depravity, 
by  the  mere  influence  of  her  truth  and  love,  she  has 
led  forth  a  multitude  of  disciples  for  the  Lord  Jesus, 
in  whom  are  found  precisely  the  same  distinctive  fea- 


388  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tares  of  meekness,  humility,  love,  and  holiness.  Look 
at  the  Sandwich,  or  the  Society  Islands.  Within  our 
own  times  were  they  universally  pagan,  having  no 
altars  but  those  of  demons ;  no  law  but  that  of  vio- 
lence; no  morals  but  those  of  unbridled  passion. 
Theft  was  the  most  national  art.  Polygamy,  crimes 
against  nature,  the  murder  of  prisoners  taken  in  war, 
ihe  destruction  of  infants,  and  the  sacrificing  of  hu- 
man victims,  prevailed  throughout  their  population. 
What  is  the  change?  Where  are  now  their  idols? 
In  the  museums  of  our  missionary  societies,  as  trophies 
of  the  victories  of  the  cross,  or  cast  ^Ho  the  moles  and 
the  bats"  by  those  who  once  adored  them.  The  plan 
and  mould  of  society  have  been  recast.  Laws,  wisely 
enacted  and  well  administered,  keep  the  peace  and 
promote  improvements.  Crimes  of  all  kinds  are 
obliged  to  cease,  or  go  into  concealment.  Marriage 
has  given  parents  new  affection  for  their  children,  and 
their  children  new  ties  among  each  other.  Benev- 
olence, unknown  before,  has  awakened  a  desire  to  go 
about  doing  good.  The  Sabbath  is  reverenced  and 
widely  observed  for  rest  and  worship.  The  arts  of 
peace  are  cultivated  where  formerly  the  only  art  de- 
sired was  that  of  war.  The  march  of  civihzation  is 
visible  in  all  domestic  comforts  and  private  affairs; 
in  agriculture,  commerce,  buildings,  cleanliness,  dress, 
manners,  and  government.  Schools  are  spread  through 
the  islands,  and  education  is  eagerly  sought  by  a 
large  portion  of  the  people  of  all  ages  and  classes. 
Such  are  the  fruits  of  Christianity  in  our  day.  Noth- 
ing else  could  have  produced  such  fruits.     Just  after 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  389 

infidelity  had  given  the  world  a  full-length  portrait, 
in  the  French  revolution,  of  her  power  to  tear  down, 
and  tear  in  pieces,  and  drown  in  blood,  whatever  is 
lovely  and  of  good  report,  then  Christianity  set  out  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  world  to  furnish  a  striking 
contrast,  in  the  missions  of  the  Pacific,  of  her  benign 
influence  to  exterminate  whatever  is  odious  and  de- 
praved.* 

•  It  is  well  known  to  the  author,  that  travellers  and  voy- 
agers not  unfrcquently  bring  back  reports  of  the  effects  of  mis- 
sionary labors  in  the  regions  they  have  visited,  which  stagger 
the  minds  of  many  sincere  friends  of  foreign  mij^sions.  The 
accounts  of  what  those  honored  and  devoted  servants  of  Christ 
called  missionaries  arc  doing,  and  of  the  advances  which  the 
gospel  is  making  under  their  influence,  may  all  be  true;  much 
more  than  they  relate  may  be  true ;  and  yet  it  is  very  conceiv- 
able, yea,  natural,  that  such  men  as  our  ordinary  visitors  of  for- 
eign lands  should  return  from  those  regions,  having  neither  seen 
nor  heard  any  thing  of  the  matter.  Suppose  a  missionary  were 
accompli.shing,  with  his  schools  and  his  preaching,  among  a  tribe 
of  Indians  in  the  centre  of  the  state  of  New  York,  about  as 
much  as  is  reported  of  the  American  laborers  in  the  island  of 
Ceylon;  how  long  might  an  intelligent  traveller,  with  no  interest 
in  religion,  no  relish  for  its  intelligence,  no  love  for  the  society 
of  its  disciples,  no  knowledge  of  its  journals — a  man  of  fashion 
and  gayety,  mingling  only  with  the  literary  and  worldly-minded — 
how  long  might  he  reside  in  the  fashionable  circles  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  sail  up  the  Hudson,  and  stop  at  Saratoga,  and 
visit  Niagara,  and  yet  know  absolutely  nothing  of  that  diligent 
missionary  and  his  usefulness?  Men  who  have  lived  all  their 
days  in  a  city  which  abounds  in  religious  institutions  and  Chris- 
tian labors,  without  having  become  suflficiently  informed  to  give 
a  stranger  a  correct  account  even  of  their  respective  characters, 
much  less  of  their  real  usefulness,  will  touch  at  a  port  of  an 
extensive  pagan  land,  see  the  port  population,  go  no  further  than 
the  coast,  inquire  of  none  but  the  ungodly,  and  then  come  home 
and  report  that  the  missionaries  have  done  nothing  to  civilize  or 


390  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

Not  only  has  the  religion  of  the  gospel  produced 
such  fruits,  but  the  experiment  of  eighteen  hundred 
years  is  perfect  proof,  that  in  proportion  as  it  shall 
ever  be  possessed  in  native  soundness,  and  have  room 

convert  the  people.  How  should  such  men  know?  On  their 
principles  of  judging,  it  might  be  reported  with  equal  reason, 
that  Christianity  has  secured  no  influence  and  done  no  good  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  An  anecdote  will  illustrate  how  such 
authorities  deserve  to  be  regarded.  A  gentleman  not  long  since 
returned  to  his  native  city  in  England,  after  having  ^pent  some 
three  or  four  years  in  India.  The  pious  people  of  his  acquaint- 
ance, not  considering  the  extent  of  the  Indies,  and  his  indifference 
to  the  cause  of  Christ,  supposed  that  of  course  he  had  seen  the 
missionary  stations,  and  knew  by  his  own  observation  all  about 
the  reported  progress  of  religion  in  that  country.  They  inquired 
of  him  the  state  of  things  in  this  respect.  He  assured  them  that 
the  accounts  they  had  read  of  missionary  doings  and  successes 
in  the  East  had  no  foundation — were  mere  traps  to  get  contri- 
butions. He  had  been  in  India,  and  travelled  extensively,  and 
had  seen  nothing  of  any  inroads  upon  heathenism,  nor  any 
changes  among  the  people — had  scarcely  heard  of  the  existence 
of  missionary  stations.  The  people  were  amazed.  Much  harm 
was  doing;  w^hen  a  clergyman  of  the  place,  hearing  of  the  mat- 
ter, took  an  opportunity  to  converse  with  the  traveller.  Before 
disclosing  his  object,  he  said  to  him,  "You  are  probably  familiar 
with  the  national  school  system  of  instruction  in  this  country. 
What  do  you  think  of  it?"  *'Why,  no,"  answered  the  travel- 
ler, ''I  really  am  not  acquainted  with  it.'^  "But  you  doubtless 
know  that  there  is  such  a  system,  and  have  probably  seen  its 
establishments,  and  heard  much  of  its  usefulness?"  "Why,  no, 
I  have  never  happened  to  do  so,  though  I  have  an  indistinct 
idea  of  the  existence  of  such  a  system."  "  Well,"  said  the  cler- 
gyman, "  I  will  tell  you.  The  national  school  system  has  been 
established  for  several  years  in  England.  Its  schools  are  all 
over  the  country;  its  pupils  are  many  hundreds  of  thousands; 
its  influence  is  universally  felt.  It  maintains  more  than  one 
school  in  your  immediate  neighborhood.  Almost  all  your  life 
has  been  spent  in  England,  a  small  country,  and  yet  you  know 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  391 

and  freedom  to  spread  its  roots  and  extend  its  branches, 
it  will  continue  to  bear  such  fruit,  more  and  more 
abundantly  and  perfectly,  to  the  end  of  time.  This 
tree  of  life  was  planted  to  live  through  all  ages,  and 
spread  its  shadow  over  all  nations.  The  trials  it 
stood  in  its  infancy,  the  fierce  assaults  of  every  spe- 
cies of  enmity,  which  in  every  age  of  its  subsequent 
growth  have  endeavored  in  vain  to  destroy  it,  are  evi- 
dences, that  as  no  human  power  could  have  thus 
protected  it,  so  no  human  opposition  can  hereafter 
prevent  its  increase — that  it  must  grow  and  spread 
and  blossom  till  time  shall  be  no  more. 

I  am  well  aware,  and  I  desire  not  to  conceal,  that 
it  is  very  common  with  infidels  to  ascribe  wars^  in- 
trigues^ bloodshed^  and  persecutions  to  the  influence 
of  Christianity,  and  to  assert  that  the  world  has  been 
covered  with  slaughter  by  the  hand  of  the  gospel. 
The  truth  is,  that  whenever  any  evils  such  as  wars  or 
persecutions  arise,  though  infidels  by  profession,  oi 
mere  nominal  Christians,  are  at  the  bottom  of  them ; 
though  they  were  originated  and  carried  on  out  of  direct 
enmity  to  the  gospel,  yet,  because  the  Christian  name 
is  involved  in  the  contest,  infidels  set  down  the  whole 
to  the  account  of  a  religion  which,  nevertheless,  as 

nothing  of  these  interesting  facts.  You  have  been  a  short  time 
in  the  immense  region  of  India,  over  which  a  few  missionary 
stations  are  scattered,  as  drops  upon  a  desert;  and  because,  in 
visiting  a  few  prominent  places,  you  heard  or  saw  nothing  of 
their  influence  upon  the  millions  of  heathen,  you  would  persuade 
us  that  what  we  have  read  is  all  untrue.  How  much  more 
should  we  believe  that  the  national  school  system  is  a  fable!'' 
The  traveller  was  silenced;  the  people  were  satisfied. 


392  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

their  chief  men  confess,  has  a  direct  tendency  to  make 
every  body  do  his  duty*  and  '^/o  promote  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  mankind!''''^  But  on  the  other 
hand,  whenever  any  good  is  done  in  society,  such  as 
the  banishment  of  the  crimes  and  vices  of  heathen- 
ism, the  promotion  of  virtue,  peace,  good  laws,  good 
institutions,  benevolence,  domestic  and  public  happi- 
ness, then  infidels  have  great  difficulty  in  seeing  how 
these  blessings  are  connected  with  Christianity,  even 
though,  by  their  own  acknowledgment,  the  life  of 
Jesus  *^  showed  at  once  what  excellent  creatures  men 
would  be,  when  under  the  influence  and  power  of  that 
gospel  which  he  preached."* 

It  is  freely  granted  that  in  countries  called  Chris- 
tian, great  evils  remain  to  be  cured ;  their  history 
abounds  with  wars,  some  of  which  have  been  on 
account  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  have  been 
accompanied  with  great  slaughter  and  lasting  enmi- 
ties. But  before  these  deplorable  facts  can  justly  be 
attributed  to  the  influence  of  the  peaceful  and  gentle 
religion  of  Jesus,  a  number  of  important  questions, 
which  we  shall  presently  name,  must  be  decided. 
By  the  confession  of  one  of  the  most  noted  infidels, 
^'  we  have  in  Christ  an  example  of  one  who  was  just, 
honest,  upright,  and  sincere,  and  above  all,  of  a  most 
gracious  and  benevolent  temper  and  behavior :  one 
who  did  no  wrong,  no  injury  to  any  man ;  in  whose 
mouth  was  no  guile  ;  who  went  about  doing  good,  not 
only  by  his  ministry,  but  also  in  curing  all  manner 

*  Rousseau.  t  Bolingbroke. 

i  Clmbb's  True  Gospel,  sec.  8,  pp.  ^^^  56. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  393 

of  diseases  among  the  people.  His  life  showed  what 
excellent  creatures  men  would  be  when  under  the 
influence  and  power  of  that  gospel  which  he  preached 
unto  them."*  But  hear  on  this  head  the  eloquence 
of  the  profligate  Rousseau,  venturing  for  once  to  speak 
the  truth :  "  I  will  confess  that  the  majesty  of  the 
Scriptures  strikes  me  with  admiration,  as  the  purity 
of  the  gospel  has  its  influence  on  my  heart.  Peruse 
the  works  of  our  philosophers;  with  all  their  pomp 
of  diction,  how  contemptible  are  they  compared  with 
the  Scriptures !  Ts  it  possible  that  a  book  at  once  so 
simple  and  sublime  should  be  merely  the  work  of 
man  ?  Is  it  possible  that  the  sacred  personage  whoso 
name  it  records,  should  be  himself  a  mere  man  ? 
What  sweetness,  what  purity  in  his  manner ;  what 
sublimity  in  his  maxims ;  what  profound  wisdom  in 
his  discourses.  Where  is  the  man,  where  the  phi- 
-losopher,  who  could  so  live  and  so  die  without  weak- 
ness and  without  ostentation  ?  If  the  life  and  death 
of  Socrates  were  those  of  a  sage,  the  life  and  death  of 
Jesus  were  those  of  a  Grod."  Such  are  the  confes- 
sions of  a  man  whose  vice  and  vanity  constrained 
him  to  say,  "  I  cannot  believe  the  gospel."  No  won- 
der, when  at  the  same  time  he  was  saying  in  his 
heart,  I  will  not  renounce  my  debaucheries. 

But  such  confessions  abound  in  the  writings  of 
infidels,  so  that  "  the  whole  Christian  argument 
might  be  maintained  on  the  admissions  of  one  or 
other  of  the  leading  infidel  writers ;  and  no  contest 
remain,  unless,  if  it  could  then  be  called  one,  with 
♦  Chubb's  True  Gospel,  sec.  8^  p.  56,  57. 
17* 


394  M'lLVAINE^S  EVIDENCES. 

the  miserable,  ignorant  ferocity  of  Paine  and  his  as- 
sociates."* 

On  the  ground  of  such  acknowledgments,  and  of 
the  acquaintance  which  any  who  ever  read  the  New 
Testament  must  have  with  its  principles  and  ten- 
dency, let  the  following  questions  be  answered :  Is 
there  any  tendency  in  the  principles  of  the  gospel  to 
the  enkindling  of  strife,  hatred,  war,  or  bloodshed  ? 
Was  the  character  of  its  founder — were  the  char- 
acters of  the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians,  among 
whom  the  native  influence  of  Christianity  was  most 
unequivocally  exhibited,  in  any  manner  indicative  of 
such  a  tendency  in  its  principles  ?  Is  not  the  whole 
history  of  the  purest  ages  of  the  gospel,  as  well  as 
every  page  in  the  New  Testament,  directly  in  proof 
of  the  very  opposite  effect  ?  Did  not  all  the  evils  of 
war  and  national  dissension  prevail  much  more  uni- 
versally before  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  than^ 
they  have  done  since  ?  Is  not  the  influence  of  this 
religion  plainly  visible  in  mitigating  those  horrors  of 
war  which  she  has  not  exterminated  ?  And  as  to 
those  which  have  continued  to  afflict  mankind,  are 
they  in  direct  consequence,  or  in  spite  of  her  influ- 
ence— the  fruit  of  the  tree,  or  the  poisonous  weeds  at 
its  root,  which  oppose  its  growth  ?  Are  the  men  who 
have  been  concerned  in  promoting  these  evils,  and 
who  are  called  Christians,  believed  to  have  been  real 
Christians?  Do  not  infidels  discriminate  sufficiently 
between  genuine  and  nominal  religion,  to  understand 
that  in  thus  acting  they  were  departing  from  the 
*  Wilson's  Lectures. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  395 

principles  of  the  gospel,  and  proving  that  they  were 
Christians  but  in  name  ?  *^  Have  not  the  courts  of 
princes,  notwithstanding  Christianity  may  have  been 
the  professed  religion  of  the  land,  been  generally 
attended  by  a  far  greater  proportion  of  deists  than  of 
serious  Christians ;  and  have  not  public  measures 
been  direct-ed  by  the  counsels  of  the  former,  much 
more  than  by  those  of  the  latter  ?  It  is  well  known 
that  great  numbers  among  the  nobility  and  gentry  of 
every  nation  consider  religion  as  suited  only  to  vulgar 
minds,  and  therefore  either  wholly  absent  themselves 
from  public  worship,  or  attend  but  seldom,  and  then 
only  to  save  appearances  towards  a  national  estab- 
lishment. In  other  words,  they  are  unbelievers.  This 
is  the  description  of  men  by  which  public  affairs  are 
commonly  managed,  and  to  which  the  good  or  the 
evil  pertaining  to  them,  so  far  as  human  agency  is 
concerned,  is  to  be  attributed."* 

It  is  a  favorite  manoeuvre  with  infidels  to  charge 
Christianity  with  all  the  persecutions  on  account  of 
religion,  and  at  the  same  time  to  speak  in  high  terms 
of  ^'the  mild  tolerance  of  the  ancient  heathens;"  of 
^^  the  universal  toleration  of  polytheism  ;^^  of  "the 
Roman  princes  beholding  without  concern  a  thousand 
forms  of  religion  subsisting  in  peace  under  their 
gentle  sway."^  Better  information  on  this  subject  is 
greatly  needed  in  the  community.  Heathen  tolera- 
tion was  any  thing  but  virtuous,  and  much  less  uni- 
versal than  its  modern  eulogists  would  represent.  It 
allowed  all  nations  to  establish  whatever  description 

*  Fuller's  Gosj^l  its  own  Witness.  t  Gibbon. 


396  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

of  religion  they  pleased,  provided  each  would  acknow- 
ledge that  all  in  their  several  spheres  were  equally- 
good.  But  pagan  nations  required  of  every  citizen 
conformity  to  the  national  idolatries.  This  yielded, 
he  might  believe  and  be  whatever  he  pleased.  This 
denied,  immediately  toleration  ceased.  Take  a  few 
examples.  Stilpo  was  banished  Athens  for  affirming 
that  the  statue  of  Minerva  in  the  citadel  was  no 
divinity,  but  only  the  work  of  the  chisel  of  Phidias. 
Protagoras  received  a  similar  punishment  for  this 
single  sentence :  '*  Whether  there  be  gods  or  not, 
I  have  nothing  to  offer.''  Prodicus  and  his  pupil 
Socrates  suffered  death  for  opinions  at  variance  with 
the  established  idolatry  of  Athens.  Alcibiades  and 
iEschylns  narrowly  escaped  a  like  end  for  a  similar 
cause.  Plato  dissembled  his  opinions,  and  Aristotle 
fled  his  country,  under  the  lash  of  "the  mild  and 
universal  toleration  of  the  Grecian  mythology." 
Cicero  lays  it  down  as  a  principle  of  legislation  en- 
tirely conformable  to  the  rights  of  the  Roman  state, 
that  "no  man  shall  have  separate  gods  for  himself; 
and  no  man  shall  worship  "By  himself  new  or  foreign 
gods,  unless  they  have  been  publicly  acknowledged 
by  the  laws  of  the  state."*  The  speech  in  Dion 
Cassius,  which  Msecenas  is  said  to  have  made  to 
Augustus,  may  be  considered  a  fair  index  of  the  pre- 
vailing sentiment  of  that  polished  age.  "  Honor  the 
gods,"  says  MaDcenas,  "by  all  means,  according  to 
the  customs  of  your  country,  and  force  others  so  to 
honor  them.  But  those  who  are  for  ever  introducing 
*  De  Lcgibusj  vol.  2,  p.  8. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANItY.  397 

something  foreign  in  these  matters,  hate  and  punish, 
not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  gods,  but  also  because 
they  who  introduce  new  divinities  mislead  many 
others  into  receiving  foreign  laws  also.  Suffer  no 
man  either  to  deny  the  gods  or  to  practise  sorcery." 
.Tulius  Paulus  the  Roman  civilian  gives  the  follow- 
ing as  a  leading  feature  of  Roman  law :  ^'  Those  who 
introduce  new  religions,  or  such  as  were  unknown  in 
Iheir  tendency  and  nature,  by  which  the  minds  of 
men  might  be  agitated,  were  degraded  if  they  be- 
longed to  the  higher  ranks,  and  if  they  w^ere  in  a 
lower  state  were  punished  with  death."  Under  this 
legislation  many  of  the  governors  endeavored  to  com- 
promise with  Christians,  by  allowing  them  to  believe 
and  honor  what  they  pleased  in  their  hearts,  provided 
they  would  observe  outwardly  the  religious  ceremo- 
nies ordained  by  the  state.* 

Examples  to  the  same  effect  might  be  greatly 
multiplied.  I  have  furnished  enough  to  show  in 
what  sense  the  heathen  princes  ''  beheld  without 
concern  a  thousand  forms  of  religion  subsisting  in 
peace  under  their  gentle  sway ;"  and  how  far  Vol- 
taire was  accurately  informed  or  honestly  disposed, 
when  boasting  that  the  ancient  Romans  "never  per- 
secuted a  single  philosopher  for  his  opinions  from  the 
time  of  Romulus  till  the  popes  got  possession  of  their 
power." 

It  is  willingly  conceded  that  persecutions  on 
account  of  religion  were  enormously  increased  im- 
mediately after  the  promulgation  of  Christianity, 
*  See  Neander's  Chureh  History. 


398  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

inasmuch  as  notliing  had  ever  before  attacked  the 
superstitions  and  vices  of  the  heathen  with  her 
undaunted,  uncompromising  spirit.  But  did  Chris- 
tianity persecute,  or  was  she  the  object  of  persecu- 
tion ?  Was  Jesus  the  persecutor  of  Pilate  ?  Did 
Paul  persecute  the  worshippers  of  the  Ephesian 
Diana,  or  the  heathen  of  Iconium,  or  those  who 
stoned  him  at  Lystra?  By  whose  intolerance  was 
it,  that  for  three  hundred  years  the  Christian  church 
was  continually  overflowed  with  the  blood  of  her 
martyrs?  Did  the  multitudes  who  perished  for 
Christ's  sake  under  the  paw  of  the  lion  and  the 
sword  of  the  gladiator  and  the  screws  of  the  rack — 
did  they  persecute  the  heathen  priests  and  people  and 
magistrates,  Nero  and  Trajan  and  Diocletian,  with 
their  proconsuls  and  governors  and  executioners  ?  I 
grant  that  in  the  lapse  of  centuries  the  guilt  of  perse- 
cution did  attach  to  the  church.  Christian  powers 
and  ministers  and  people  have  in  various  ages  been 
justly  liable  to  this  lamentable  charge.  But  who 
does  not  know  that  the  church,  before  ever  she  began 
to  persecute,  had  manifestly  degenerated  from  the 
purity  of  the  gospel  and  become  deeply  perverted  by 
the  spirit  of  the  world,  having  her  chief  places  occu- 
pied by  such  men  as  infidels  know  were  not  influ- 
enced by  vital  Christianity?*     Who  is  so  blind  as 

*  The  emperor  Julian  acknowledged  that  persecutions  were 
the  inventions  of  the  later  Christians ;  that  neither  Jesus,  nor 
Paul,  nor  any  other  of  the  first  preachers  of  the  gospel,  had 
taught  men  to  kill  others  for  being  of  a  different  religion,  or  for 
differing  about  lesser  matters  among  themselves.  Lardncr,  vol. 
4j  p.  337. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  399 

not  to  see  that  wherever  such  evils  have  existed 
among  any  people  called  Christians,  they  have  been 
because  those  people  had  so  little  of  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  and  not  because  they  had  any  of  it  ?  They 
have  been  directly  the  reverse  of  the  religion  pro- 
fessed by  such  persons  ;  the  fruits  of  their  own  native 
disposition,  combined  with  the  character  of  the  ages 
they  lived  in,  assimilating  them  thus  far  to  infidels, 
who  have  always  been  persecutors  in  proportion  to 
their  power.  True  Christianity  desires  but  one 
favor — liberty  to  preach  *'  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified/'  Her  whole  dependence  is  on  **  the  dem- 
onstration of  the  Spirit."  **  God  giveth  the  in- 
crease." 

"We  have  now  applied  to  Christianity  the  test  by 
which  she  claims  to  be  proved — one  universally 
employed  as  safe,  and  approved  as  just — the  tree  is 
known  by  its  fruits.  The  religion  of  the  gospel  we 
have  seen  coming  into  the  world  at  a  period  when 
every  moral  evil  abounded.  The  grossest  idolatry, 
attended  with  the  most  inhuman  and  indecent  rites, 
prevailed  among  the  most  enlightened  nations.  Spec- 
tacles of  slaughter  and  suffering  constituted  the  pub- 
lic amusements.  Parents  without  natural  affection, 
children  in  slavery  to  their  parents,  and  at  the  mercy 
of  their  displeasure,  the  female  sex  degraded  to  a 
rank  of  servile  inferiority,  murders  and  cruelties, 
characterized  the  age.  Vices  of  the  most  beastly 
land  were  practised  and  avowed  in  the  highest  and 
most  influential  classes  of  society.  What  would 
now  shame  out  of  the  world  the  most  degraded  of 


400  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

mankind  could  then  be  acknowledged,  even  by  a 
public  teacher  of  morals,  without  reproach.  Public 
opinion,  the  thermometer  of  public  virtue,  had  no 
condemnation  for  habits  not  only  against  all  the 
securities  of  domestic  happiness  and  social  welfare, 
but  against  every  dictate  of  nature,  and  requiring  for 
their  permission  the  lowest  debasement  of  the  moral 
sense  of  the  community.  Among  all  the  gentile 
nations,  none  possessed  the  benevolence  to  attempt, 
nothing  had  power  to  effect  the  reformation  of  a 
world  thus  sunk  in  wretchedness  and  paralyzed  with 
vice.  It  was  the  era  indeed  of  the  world's  wisdom, 
but  of  a  wisdom  by  which  the  world  knew  not  God. 
For  centuries  had  the  wise  men  after  the  flesh  been 
teaching  and  writing  and  boasting,  and  as  long  had 
every  woe  been  increasing,  and  every  school  becoming 
more  perplexed  in  its  doctrines  and  more  abandoned 
in  the  practice  of  its  disciples.  No  change  for  the 
better  was  hoped  for  from  any  human  source.  Then 
appeared  "the  wisdom  of  Grod."  Christianity,  un- 
invited, un welcomed,  rejected — Christianity,  perse- 
cuted as  intrusive,  despised  as  foolishness,  ridiculed 
as  weakness,  commenced  at  this  crisis  the  bold  work 
of  regenerating  the  world.  Wherever  she  gained 
acceptation  the  face  of  society  was  renewed.  Order, 
purity,  benevolence,  justice,  mercy,  every  personal, 
domestic,  and  public  virtue  increased  as  her  influ- 
ence extended.  Under  her  charge  extensive  com- 
munities of  men  and  women  were  formed,  who  soon 
became  famous  in  the  world  for  their  earnest  self- 
denying  benevolence,  and  their  devotion  to  holiness. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  401 

No  sooner  was  Christianity  professed  by  the  rulers 
of  the  Roman  empire,  than  idolatry,  with  every  un- 
natural crime  and  cruel  amusement,  was  abolished 
from  society,  or  compelled  to  deny  its  existence.  In 
proportion  as  this  religion  has  reigned  in  any  age  or 
country,  there  has  been  a  manifest  increase  of  all  the 
blessings  of  civihzation,  all  the  arts  of  peace,  all  the 
virtues  of  individual  character,  all  the  securities  of  a 
wise  and  equitable  government.  Nothing  has  re- 
tarded the  growth  of  these  benefits  but  what  has 
alike  retarded  the  progress  of  Christianity.  No  Chris- 
tian people  have  sufTered  on  account  of  any  evil 
which  Christianity  has  not  directly  opposed.  Present 
efforts  to  spread  this  holy  religion  among  the  heathen 
demonstrate  that  her  natural  force  is  not  abated,  nor 
her  influence  changed.  What  she  did  among  the 
j)agans  of  the  first  century,  she  is  accomplishing, 
though  as  yet  by  slower  steps,  among  those  of  the 
nineteenth.  Such  has  been  from  the  beirinnins:, 
such  is  now,  and  such,  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe,  ever  will  be  the  fruit  of  Christianity.  By 
this  she  is  known.  By  this  let  her  claims  to  truth 
and  a  divine  origin  be  judged.  Every  honest  mind 
is  capable  of  appreciating  the  evidence  and  of  ap- 
plying the  law.  It  is  a  case  by  itself.  No  party 
appears  to  claim  the  credit  of  what  Christianity 
ascribes  to  herself.  Philosophy  and  the  light  of 
nature  are  joined  to  their  idols  and  vices,  and  cannot 
come  to  the  trial,  and  must  therefore  be  excused. 
Infidelity  was  tried  during  the  "  reign  of  terror"  in 
France,  and  received  its  sentence  at  the  guillotine, 


402  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

and  therefore  cannot  come.  Either  the  blessings 
we  have  described  must  be  adjudged,  according  to 
the  plea,  to  the  gospel  orChrist,  or  pronounced  to  be 
effects  without  a  cause.  Do  they  belong  to  the  gos- 
pel, or  to  nothing  ?  We  speak  the  language  of  every 
conscience  and  of  all  common-sense  when  we  say, 
the  gospel  alone  produced  them,  and  the  gospel 
alone  could  produce  them;  and  should  the  gospel  be 
thoroughly  conformed  to  in  all  the  world,  the  whole 
world  would  be  morally  renovated,  and  all  those 
physical  evils  which  proceed  from  the  vices  of  man- 
kind would  pass  away. 

What  then  is  Christianity  ?  "Do  men  gather 
^grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles?"  "  Can  a  cor- 
rupt tree  bring  forth  good  fruit?"  This  religion  is 
either  a  truth  or  a  fable ;  the  revelation  of  Grod,  or 
the  wicked  and  blasphemous  contrivance  of  man.  If 
it  be  the  work  of  human  contrivance,  it  must  be  un- 
speakably offensive  to  God,  inasmuch  as  it  ascribes 
all  its  doctrines  directly  to  his  teaching,  exalts  its 
Founder  to  the  dignity  of  the  divine  nature,  calling 
him  the  Son  of  God,  and  making  him  equal  to  the 
Father  in  power  and  glory.  Between  its  entire  truth 
as  a  divine  revelation,  and  its  unparalleled  audacity 
and  impiety  as  a  human  imposture,  there  can  be  no 
middle  ground.  The  unbeliever,  in  rejecting  the 
former,  must  resort,  if  consistent,  to  the  latter.  Then 
let  us  see  how  much  he  is  bound  to  believe  in  main- 
taining his  position.  He  must  believe  that  since  the 
truth,  according  to  his  views,  does  not  reside  in 
Christianity,  it  does  reside  in  some  or  all  of  the  sys- 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  403 

terns  of  religion,  or  of  philosophy,  or  of  infidelity,  to 
which  Christianity  is  opposed.  His  creed,  therefore, 
is  substantially  the  following  :  *'  I  believe  that  in 
proportion  as  the  world  has  ever  been  committed  to 
the  influence  of  those  antichristian  systems  among 
which  the  truth  is  to  be  found,  it  has  been  continually 
increasing  in  all  moral  degeneracy,  having  in  it  no 
spirit  nor  power  of  reformation.  I  believe,  also,  that 
in  proportion  as  Christianity,  which  should  be  re- 
garded only  as  a  human  contrivance  of  the  grossest 
blasphemy  and  impiety,  has  reigned  in  the  hearts 
and  lives  of  men,  the  world  has  been  morally  reno- 
vated, society  humanized,  benevolence  invigorated, 
personal  and  public  happiness  extended  and  purified. 
Consequently,  I  believe  that  a  God  infinitely  wise, 
holy,  and  true,  has  so  constituted  mankind,  that  for 
the  improvement  and  well-being  of  society  we  are 
under  the  necessity  of  believing  and  promoting  what 
is  not  only  false,  but  heinously  offensive  to  himself; 
truth  must  be  concealed  because  we  learn  by  experi- 
ence  that  its  currency  can  only  be  accompanied  with 
the  greatest  evils  to  the  morals,  the  peace,  the  whole 
interest  of  mankind ;  teachers  of  error  and  darkness 
must  be  depended  upon  as  instruments  of  human 
elevation,  while  teachers  of  the  truth  should  be  dis- 
countenanced as  capable  of  nothing  but  the  unhing- 
ing of  the  whole  frame-work  of  private  and  public 
welfare."  These,  I  say,  are  the  articles  of  belief 
which,  whether  avowed  or  not,  do  lie  wrapped  up  in  the 
rejection  of  Christianity.  The  proof  of  this  assertion 
is  in  the  lecture  we  are  now  closing.     I  need  not  say 


404  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

that  it  sets  in  strong  and  shining  relief  the  truth  of 
the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  a  revelation 
from  Him  who  is  the  giver  of  every  good  and  perfect 
gift.  **  For  the  preaching  of  the  cross  is  to  them  that 
perish,  foolishness  ;  but  unto  us  which  are  saved,  it  is 
the  power  of  God.  Where  is  the  wise?  Where  is 
the  disputer  of  this  world  ?  Hath  not  God  made 
foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world  ?  For  after  that  in 
the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not 
God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching 
to  save  them  that  believe.  For  the  Jews  require  a  sign, 
and  the  Greeks  seek  after  wisdom :  but  we  preach 
Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block, 
and  unto  the  Greeks  foolishness;  but  unto  them 
which  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ  the 
power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God."* 
♦  1  Corinthians,  1:18-24. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  405 


LECTURE   XL 

THE  FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY— CONTINUED. 

The  rule  by  which  Christianity  was  tried  in  our 
last  lecture,  is  as  philosophical  as  it  is  scriptural.  It 
is  the  rule  of  experiment,  in  distinction  from  all  the 
whims  of  conjecture  and  ingenious  theory,  and  has 
an  application  as  legitimate  and  conclusive,  to  the 
character  of  Christianity,  as  to  that  of  any  tree,  or  food, 
or  medicine.  None  can  deny  that  the  experiment  of 
the  religion  of  Christ  has  been  varied  sufficiently  to 
put  it  to  the  fairest  trial,  and  continued  long  enough 
to  develope  its  most  hidden  qualities.  Exposed  to  all 
extremes  of  physical  and  moral  temperature,  tried 
upon  all  descriptions  of  human  beings,  required  to 
preserve  its  purity  amidst  all  contagions,  to  display 
its  energies  under  all  conceivable  burdens  and  bonds, 
to  bear  its  fruit  under  the  most  blasting  influences, 
and  to  stand  against  all  possible  combinations  of  en- 
mity— sometimes  subjected  to  the  action  of  the  fire, 
then  of  the  rack,  and  then  of  the  knife  of  unrelenting 
persecutors — eighteen  hundred  years  have  measured 
out  its  trial,  during  which,  whatever  could  be  effected 
by  science  united  with  industry,  malice  united  with 
power,  or  vigilance  united  with  hypocrisy,  has  been 
done  unceasingly  to  torture  it  into  a  confession  or  a 
display  of  something  at  variance  with  a  divine  origin. 


406  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

The  trial,  therefore,  is  sufficient.  The  tree  has  had 
time  and  ample  opportunity  to  be  known  by  its  fruits. 
If  it  may  not  be  finally  tried  by  this  rule,  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  of  its  budding  and  bearing,  the  fault 
must  be  sought  in  the  rule  itself,  not  in  the  subject 
of  inquiry. 

In  our  last  lecture  we  confined  our  attention  to  the 
fruits  of  Christianity  in  regard  to  society  in  general. 
In  the  present  we  are  to  consider, 

II.  Its  fruits  in  regard  to  the  character  and 

HAPPINESS  OP  ITS  GENUINE  DISCIPLES. 

It  is  not  without  reflection  that  I  introduce  this 
subject  into  the  department  of  external  evidence.  I 
am  aware  that  it  is  generally  considered  as  belonging 
exclusively  to  the  class  of  arguments  denominated 
internal^  but  I  see  not  with  what  propriety.  So  far  as 
any  eflects  of  Christianity  on  individual  disciples  are 
incapable  of  being  brought  under  the  observation  of 
others,  because  confined  to  the  inward  experience  of 
the  true  believer,  they  are  unquestionably  internal 
in  their  character,  and  do  not  belong  to  our  present 
department.  But  if  they  be  such  effects  as  witnesses 
can  take  knowledge  of,  if  the  proof  of  them  may  be 
seen  and  appreciated  by  those  that  are  without,  I  see 
not  but  that  they  belong  as  appropriately  to  the  ex- 
ternal evidence  as  any  of  the  effects  of  Christianity 
upon  society  at  large.  Without  further  vindication 
of  a  matter  of  mere  classification,  I  proceed. 

1.  The  moral  transformations  ivhich  the  gospel 
in  all  ages  has  notoriously  wrought,  and  by  unques- 
tionable proofs  exhibited  to  the  world,  in  the  char- 


I 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  407 

acter  of  those  who  have  become  its  genuine  disci- 
pies,  cannot  be  accounted  for,  but  on  the  supposition 
of  a  divine  power  accompanying  its  operation. 

To  illustrate  my  meaning,  let  me  describe  what 
has  been  witnessed  under  the  ministry  of  Christian- 
ity so  repeatedly,  that  hardly  any  who  have  been  in 
the  way  of  such  things  can  have  failed  to  become 
acquainted  with  apposite  examples.  Persons  of  all 
grades  of  society  and  of  intellect,  and  of  all  degrees 
of  enmity  to  the  religion  of  Jesus,  in  circumstances 
the  most  unpropitious  to  its  influence  on  their  hearts — 
even  while  they  were  filled  with  the  spirit  of  malice 
and  persecution  against  its  truth  and  disciples — have 
had  their  minds  suddenly  arrested  by  some  simple 
expression  of  the  Bible,  or  some  unpretending  state- 
ment of  Christian  doctrine  or  experience :  perhaps 
it  dropped  from  the  lips  of  a  minister  against  whom, 
at  that  very  time,  they  were  nerved  with  anger ;  or 
was  read  in  a  Bible,  or  a  little  despised  tract,  that 
seemed  accidentally  to  lie  in  their  way,  and  at  which, 
as  if  by  accident,  they  condescended  to  look.  It  told 
them  nothing  new — nothing  but  what  they  had  often 
heard  or  read  before  without  the  smallest  effect.  And 
yet,  without  any  argument  to  shake  their  ungodly 
principles,  or  special  application,  by  any  human  being, 
of  the  word  thus  heard  or  read  to  their  particular  con- 
dition, they  felt  their  minds  seized  upon  by  an  influ- 
ence from  which  no  effort  of  infidel  argument,  nor 
struggle  of  pride,  nor  drowning  of  thought,  nor  exer- 
tion of  courage,  nor  devices  of  company  and  amuse- 
ment could  enable  them  to  escape.     A  hand  seemed 


408  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

to  be  upon  them  which  all  their  efforts  to  shake  it  off 
only  fastened  with  more  painful  power.  They  could 
get  no  peace  of  mind  till  they  submitted  to  its  arrest. 
They  were  induced  to  listen  to  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
even  while  deeply  conscious  of  a  cordial  opposition  to 
its  requirements.  A  conviction  of  sin  and  condem- 
nation, such  as  they  had  ever  derided,  soon  brought 
them  to  a  posture  of  body  and  a  spirit  of  supplication 
before  God,  in  which,  a  short  time  before,  they  would 
not  have  been  seen  for  the  world.  Soon  they  sub- 
mitted tOf  the  claims  of  the  gospel,  became  believers 
in  Jesus,  confessed  him  before  men,  and  appeared  to 
all  that  had  known  them  before — in  what  aspect? 
As  new  creatures!  Only  a  few  days  have  elapsed 
since  they  were  notorious  scoffers,  bold  blasphemers, 
angry  persecutors ;  of  profligate  habits,  impure  con- 
versation, and  hardened  hearts,  armed  at  all  points 
against  religion  ;  immovable,  in  their  own  estima- 
tion, by  any  thing  Christians  could  say,  and  regarded 
by  almost  all  that  knew  them  as  utterly  beyond 
conversion. 

Now  behold  the  change.  It  is  a  change  not  merely 
of  belief,  but  of  heart.  Their  whole  moral  nature  has 
been  recast;  affections,  desires,  pleasures,  tempers, 
conduct,  have  all  become  new.  What  each  hated  a 
few  days  since,  he  now  affectionately  loves.  "What 
then  he  was  devotedly  fond  of,  he  now  sincerely  de- 
tests. Prayer  is  his  delight.  Holiness  he  thirsts  for. 
His  old  companions  he  pities  and  loves  for  their  souls' 
sake;  but  their  tastes,  conversation,  and  habits  are 
loathsome  to  his  heart.     Feelings  recently  obdurate 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  409 

have  become  tender.  A  temper  long  habituated  to 
anger  and  violence  and  resentment,  is  now  gentle, 
peaceful,  and  forgiving.  Christians,  whose  company 
and  intercourse  he  lately  could  not  abide,  are  now  his 
dear  and  chosen  companions,  with  whom  he  loves  to 
think  of  dwelling  for  ever.  The  proud  unbeliever  is 
an  humble  disciple.  The  selfish  profligate  has  be- 
come self-denying  and  exemplary,  animated  with  a 
benevolent  desire  to  do  good.  All  these  changes  are 
so  conspicuous  to  others — he  has  become,  and  con- 
tinues to  be,  so  manifestly  a  new  man  in  life  and 
heart,  that  the  ungodly  are  struck  with  the  sudden- 
ness and  extent  of  the  transformation. 

This  is  a  drawing  from  life.  That  such  oases 
have  frequently  occurred,  and  have  been  followed  by 
all  the  permanent  blessings  of  a  holy  life,  in  thou- 
sands of  places  and  before  witnesses  of  all  descrip- 
tions, it  were  a  mockery  of  human  testimony  and  of 
the  faith  of  history  to  question.  There  is  scarcely  a 
faithful  preacher  of  the  gospel,  whose  ministry  has 
not  been  blessed  with  such  fruits.  There  is  scarcely 
a  village  in  this  country,  whose  inhabitants  cannot 
tell  of  many  such  examples.  They  began  when 
Christianity  began.  They  have  been  repeated  as 
pure  Christianity  has  been  promoted  and  extended. 
Such  a  case  was  that  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  One  mo- 
ment he  was  a  furious  enemy  of  Jesus ;  learned,  tal- 
ented, proud ;  of  high  reputation,  of  brilliant  pros- 
pects; the  champion  of  Judea  against  the  gospel  of 
Christ;  bearing  the  commission  and  full  of  the  spirit 
of  a  persecutor:  the  next,  he  was  on  his  face  on  the 

Evidence*.  18 


410  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

gronnd,  calling  upon  Jesus  in  the  spirit  of  entire  sub- 
mission and  deep  repentance.  In  a  few  days,  he  was 
preaching  Christ  in  the  synagogues,  at  the  risk  of 
life,  having  made  a  total  sacrifice  of  all  earthly  pros- 
pects and  possessions,  and  given  himself  up  to  re- 
proach, poverty,  and  universal  hatred,  for  the  sake  of 
the  gospel.  All  his  dispositions,  affections,  and  hab- 
its, had  in  that  short  space  undergone  so  complete  a 
change,  without  any  human  agency,  that  he  had  be- 
come, and  continued  to  be,  directly  the  opposite  of 
his  former  character.  Many  similar  examples  must 
have  been  included  in  those  three  thousand  converts 
of  the  day  of  Pentecost,  who,  although  when  the 
morning  rose  upon  them  they  were  filled  with  all  the 
enmity  of  Jews  and  of  crucifiers  of  Jesus,  before  the 
day  was  over  were  bowed  at  the  feet  of  the  same 
Jesus  as  his  baptized  disciples.  So  changed  were 
they  in  every  worldly  disposition,  that  they  ^^sold 
their  possessions  and  goods,  and  parted  them  to  all 
men  as  every  man  had  need ;"  and  all  this  under  no 
human  influence  but  that  of  the  preaching  of  men 
whom  they  began  to  hear  with  contempt,  and  of  a 
doctrine  to  which  they  began  to  listen  with  the  most 
rancorous  aversion.  How  many  thousand  cases  of 
the  same  kind  would  the  domestic  history  of  the  first 
century  of  the  gospel  furnish.  What  volumes  might 
be  filled  with  similar  examples,  which  the  annals  of 
Christianity  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  especially 
in  this  country,  would  exhibit.  Who  has  attended 
to  the  blessed  effects  with  which  the  distribution  of 
tracts  and  Bibles  has  been  accompanied,  and  can- 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  411 

not  call  to  mind  instances  in  which  the  wonderful 
changes  that  were  wrought  in  the  Earl  of  Rochester, 
in  Colonel  Gardiner,  and  in  the  once  degraded  and 
afterwards  excellent  John  Newton,  have  in  all  impor- 
tant respects  been  equalled  ?  Since  I  commenced  the 
preparation  of  this  lecture,  a  case  in  point  has  come 
to  my  view.  Called  from  my  study  to  see  a  man 
who  had  come  on  business,  I  found  in  the  parlor  a 
well-dressed  person,  of  respectable  appearance,  good 
manners,  and  sensible  conversation — a  stranger.  After 
a  little  while  he  looked  at  me  earnestly  and  said,  "  I 
think,  sir,  I  have  seen  your  face  before."  "  Prob- 
ably," said  I,  supposing  he  had  seen  me  in  the  pulpit. 
"Did  you  not  once  preach  in  the  receiving-ship  at 
the  navy-yard,  on  the  Prodigal  Son,  sir?"  "Yes." 
"  Did  you  not  afterwards  go  to  a  sailor  sitting  on  his 
chest,  and  take  his  hand  and  say,  'Friend,  do  you 
love  to  read  your  Bible  V  "  "  Yes."  "  I,  sir,  was 
that  sailor ;  but  then  I  knew  nothing  about  the  Bible, 
or  about  God :  I  was  a  poor,  ignorant,  degraded  sin- 
ner." I  learned  his  history,  in  substance  as  follows : 
He  had  been  twenty-five  years  a  sailor,  and  nearly 
all  that  time  in  the  service  of  the  British  navy,  indulg- 
ing in  all  the  extremes  of  a  sailor's  vices.  Drunken- 
ness, debauchery,  profaneness,  made  up  his  character. 
The  fear  of  death,  or  hell,  or  God  had  not  entered  his 
mind.  Such  was  he,  a  sink  of  depravity,  when  an 
humble  preacher  of  the  Methodist  denomination  one 
day  assembled  a  little  congregation  of  sailors  in  the 
ship  to  which  he  was  attached,  and  spoke  on  the 
text,  "  Behold,  now  -is  the  accepted  time ;    behold. 


412  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  He  listened,  merely 
because  the  preacher  was  once  a  sailor.  Soon  it  ap- 
peared to  him  that  the  latter  saw  and  knew  him, 
though  he  was  sitting  where  he  supposed  himself 
concealed.  Every  word  seemed  to  bo  meant  for  a 
description  of  him.  To  avoid  being  seen  and  marked, 
he  several  times  changed  his  place,  carefully  getting 
behind  the  others.  But  wherever  he  went  the  preacher 
seemed  to  follow  him,  and  to  describe  his  course  of 
life  as  if  he  knew  it  all.  At  length  the  discourse  was 
ended,  and  the  poor  sailor,  assured  that  he  had  been 
the  single  object  of  the  speaker's  labors,  went  up  and 
seized  his  hand,  and  said,  "  Sir,  I  am  the  very  man. 
That 's  just  the  life  I  have  led.  I  am  a  poor,  miser- 
able man  ;  but  I  feel  a  desire  to  be  good,  and  will 
thank  you  for  some  of  your  advice  upon  the  subject." 
The  preacher  bade  him  pray.  He  answered,  '*  I  have 
never  prayed  in  my  life,  but  thafc  I  might  be  damned, 
as  when  I  was  swearing,  and  I  don't  know  how  to 
pray."  He  was  instructed.  It  was  a  day  or  two 
after  this,  while  his  mind  was  anxious  but  unen- 
lightened, that  Providence  led  me  to  him,  sitting  on 
his  chest.  He  said  I  showed  him  a  verse  of  the  Bible, 
as  one  that  would  guide  him.  I  asked  him  if  he- 
remembered  which  it  was.  **  Yes;  it  was,  *Him  that 
Cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.' "  Soon 
after  this  his  mind  was  comforted  with  a  hope  of 
salvation  through  Jesus  Christ.  His  vices  were  all 
abandoned.  He  became  from  that  time  a  new  crea- 
ture in  all  his  dispositions  and  habits,  took  specia\ 
care  to  be  scrupulously  attentive  to  every  duty  of  his 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  413 

station,  gained  the  confidence  of  his  officers,  and, 
having  left  the  service,  has  continued  ever  since, 
more  than  three  years,  an  exemplary  member  of 
society  and  of  the  church  of  Christ.  He  is  so  entirely 
renewed,  that  no  one  could  imagine  from  his  appear- 
ance or  manners  that  he  had  been  for  twenty-five 
years  a  drunken,  abandoned  sailor.  This  case  I  have 
selected  only  because  it  was  at  hand.  It  is  by  no 
means  a  solitary  case.  Nor  is  it  any  the  worse  for 
being  taken  from  among  the  poor  and  ignorant.  I 
know  not  that  beastly  vice  is  more  susceptible  of 
removal,  or  that  habits  of  drunkenness,  debauchery, 
and  profaneness  are  any  more  capable  of  being 
changed  into  those  of  soberness,  purity,  and  prayer, 
for  being  seated  in  ignorance  and  poverty,  than  when 
associated  with  learning,  rank,  and  opulence. 

Now,  be  it  remarked,  that  the  reality  of  such  cases 
is  a  matter  of  fact,  which  one  may  question  with 
about  as  much  reason  as  he  might  deny  the  best 
established  phenomena  in  natural  history.  Be  it  re- 
marked also,  that  in  all  such  effects,  the  individuals 
concerned  have  ascribed,  the  total  change  in  their 
hearts  and  lives  to  the  direct  influence  of  the  word 
and  Spirit  of  God,  as  set  forth  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  They  have  generally  been  able  to  tell  the 
particular  truth,  or  combination  of  scriptural  truths, 
that  awakened  them  from  the  death  of  sin,  and  led 
them  to  embrace  the  hope  of  Christ  and  the  life  of 
righteousness.  Be  it  remarked  also,  that  among  all 
the  cases  of  such  conversions,  in  all  ages  and  regions 
and  circumstances,  and  with  all  varieties  of  charac- 


414  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

ter,  there  has  been  a  wonderful  identity.  The  same 
effects,  essentially,  have  ensued  under  the  application 
of  the  same  gospel  in  the  present  century,  as  in  the 
time  of  St.  Paul ;  in  modern  Europe,  as  in  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome  ;  in  Hindostan,  as  in  North  Amer- 
ica ;  among  Hottentots  and  the  islanders  of  the  South 
Sea  ahd  savages  of  our  western  borders,  as  among 
the  polished  inhabitants  of  New  York  or  London. 
While  all  these  varieties  of  age,  climate,  customs, 
and  cultivation,  give  a  natural  and  pleasing  variety 
to  what  may  be  called  the  complexion  and  costume  in 
which  the  conversion  appears,  the  great  change  itself 
exhibits,  under  all  circumstances,  the  same  charac- 
teristic and  inimitable  features ;  insomiich  that  if  you 
draw  the  likeness  of  a  genuine  convert  to  Christ  in 
his  chief  peculiarities  as  manifested  in  this  country, 
and  send  it  to  Burmah,  or  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  or 
to  Caffre-land,  or  to  Whampoa  in  China,  or  to  Green- 
land, it  will  be  considered  a  good  likeness  in  main 
points  of  the  dispositions,  affections,  tempers,  habits, 
and  life,  produced  by  the  converting  power  of  the 
gospel  in  any  of  those  widely  differing  regions.  A 
genuine  convert  to  Christ  in  China  or  in  Africa,  may 
come  to  this  country,  and  find  among  genuine  Chris- 
tians precisely  his  own  feelings,  tastes,  sympathies, 
and  labors,  though  he  never  saw  an  American  or 
European  before  ;  and  he  will  be  more  at  home 
among  their  Christian  feelings,  than  he  can  be  among 
the  manners  and  dispositions  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  grew  up  and  has  always  lived.  Thus  it  is 
evident,  that  whatever  be  the  cause  of  these  uni- 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  415 

versally  similar  effects,  it  must  be  the  same  cause 
universally — the  same  in  all  ages,  and  in  all  parts  of 
the  world. 

Now,  whether  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  produced 
these  great  and  invariably  corresponding  effects,  or 
whether  they  proceeded  from  some  other  universal 
cause,  of  which  none  of  the  subjects  were  ever  con- 
scious, and  which  was  never  known  where  the  gospel 
was  not  known,  and  never  operates  but  under  the 
name  and  by  means  of  the  gospel,  no  man  of  any 
philosophical  pretensions  is  at  liberty  to  doubt.  He 
has  precisely  the  same  reason  to  be  assured  that  the 
gospel,  and  nothing  else  on  earth,  is  the  cause  of  these 
admirable  fruits,  as  that  any  medicine  is  the  cause 
of  a  sick  man's  recovery  to  health,  or  that  any  vine, 
rather  than  a  thorn-tree,  produced  the  grapes  obtained 
from  its  branches. 

Then,  since  these  effects  unquestionably  belong  to 
the  gospel,  how  are  they  to  be  accounted  for?  It  will 
not  do  to  put  them  aside  under  the  unceremonious 
imputation  of  fanaticism  or  enthusiastic  excitoment. 
"Words  are  not  reasons.  Infidel  cant  is  not  philo- 
sophical argument.  If  the  gospel  be  untrue,  then  not 
only  must  these  most  excellent  fruits  be  attributed 
to  a  corrupt  tree,  and  these  wholesome  streams  to  a 
poisoned  fountain,  but  it  must  be  supposed  that  such 
sudden  and  entire  transformations  of  human  charac- 
ter, from  the  lowest  debasement  of  nature  to  the 
highest  principles  of  virtue  and  purity,  are  nothing 
more  than  the  results  of  human  agency  and  natural 
means.     But  if  this  be  the  case,  if  a  system  of  un- 


416  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

truth  in  the  hand  of  man  has  done  all  this,  we  have 
reason  to  expect  that  some  other  systems  of  doctrine, 
with  the  same  agency,  would  be  productive  of  equal 
effects.  How  then  can  it  be  accounted  for  that  noth- 
ing has  ever  been  invented  or  heard  of,  in  all  the 
earth,  to  which  any  results  of  a  like  kind  could  be 
ascribed  ?  Other  causes  have  produced  strong  ex- 
citements, but  no  transformation  of  heart  and  life  from 
sin  to  holiness.  Other  means  have  improved  the 
morals  of  men  by  slow  and  in  small  degrees,  but  none 
ever  took  hold  of  a  human  wreck,  and  lifted  him  up 
out  of  the  mire  and  dirt  of  his  profligacy  and  carried 
him  at  once  across  the  wide  gulf  that  separated  him 
from  pureness,  and  in  a  few  days  placed  him  in  a 
new  moral  region,  with  a  new  heart,  and  in  all  things 
a  new  creature.  How  can  this  be  explained,  if  the 
gospel  be  a  human  invention  and  its  eflects  of  human 
production  ?  Why  should  not  infidels  be  capable, 
with  all  their  wisdom  and  eloquence,  of  getting  up  a 
set  of  influences  to  rival  these  gospel  wonders,  and 
deprive  Christians  of  this  monopoly  of  the  work  of 
new  creation  and  of  holiness  ?  How  is  it,  that  in  pro- 
portion as  any  church  degenerates  from  the  simplicity 
and  purity  of  the  gospel,  it  ceases  to  witness  such 
changes  in  the  people  attendant  on  its  preaching? 
It  is  nothing  to  say  that  many  things  called  con- 
versions eventuate  in  no  good  fruits,  and  are  nothing 
more  than  the  natural  consequences  of  temporary  ex- 
citement. This  is  freely  granted.  But  you  do  not 
condemn  a  whole  orchard  because  some  of  the  trees 
were  not  successfully  grafted ;  nor  all  virtuous  men, 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  417 

because  some,  under  the  profession  of  virtue,  are 
mere  pretenders.  It  is  sufficient  that  thousands  and 
thousands  of  these  effects  have  been  of  the  most 
radical  and  permanently  beneficial  character.  Were 
they  of  human  production,  something  of  a  correspond- 
ing kind  would  have  appeared  from  other  sources ; 
by  other  hands  than  those  of  Christians ;  in  other 
countries  and  ages  than  those  enlightened  by  the 
Bible.  Inasmuch  as  this  has  never  occurred,  we  are 
fully  warranted  in  concluding  that  it  could  not;  con- 
sequently, that  these  effects  are  above  the  reach  ol 
human  power.  To  lohom  then  shall  we  go  but  unto 
thee^  O  Lord?  who  hast  committed  this  treasure  of 
the  gospel  to  earthen  vessels,  to  feeble  men,  to  dispense 
it,  **  that  the  excellency  of  the  power  might  be  of 
God,  and  not  of  us."  That  we  cannot  comprehend 
in  what  manner  the  power  of  Grod  operates  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  to  work  such  wonderful  revolutions 
in  their  characters,  is  no  valid  objection  to  the  mat- 
ter of  fact.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth, 
and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not 
tell  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth."  The 
phenomena  of  the  winds  are  incomprehensible,  and 
yet  believed.  "So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the 
Spirit." 

Now,  I  think  we  may  be  content  to  pass  from  the 
position  with  which  we  began,  that  the  moral  trans- 
formations which  the  gospel  in  all  ages  has  notoriously 
wrought,  and  by  unquestionable  proofs  exhibited  to 
the  world  in  the  character  of  those  who  have  become 
its  genuine  disciples,  cannot  be  accounted  for  but  on 
18* 


418  M'lLYAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  supposition  of  a  divine  power  accompanying  its 
operations. 

2.  We  proceed  to  speak  of  the  fruits  of  Christian- 
ity, as  displayed  in  the  lives  of  its  genuine  disciples, 
m  contrast  with  those  which  notoriously  character- 
ize the  lives  of  its  opposers.  The  virtues  of  true 
Christians  have  been  the  same  in  all  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  was  **  with  well-doing"  that,  in  the  days 
of  St.  Paul,  they  were  accustomed  to  silence  their 
enemies.  Having,  become  freed  from  sin,  they  be- 
came servants  of  righteousness,  and  had  their  fruit 
unto  holiness.  *'  Such  were  some  of  you,"  said  St. 
Paul  to  Christians  of  that  famous  brothel  of  all 
Greece,  the  city  of  Corinth — "such  were  some  of 
you,"  partakers  in  all  vice;  "but  ye  are  washed, 
but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our 
God."  The  apostles  could  appeal  to  whole  commu- 
nities for  evidence  of  their  blameless  character.  "Ye 
are  witnesses,  and  God  also,  how  holily  and  justly 
and  unblamably  we  behaved  ourselves  among  you." 
Even  by  the  testimony  of  the  ancient  and  deadly 
enemies  of  the  gospel,  the  lives  of  Christians  had  no 
parallel  among  any  other  people.  The  early  defenders 
of  the  faith  pubhcly  challenged  a  scrutiny  of  their 
virtue.  It  was  their  remarkable  steadfastness  in 
resisting  the  allurements  of  vice,  and  their  heroic  pa- 
tience under  all  the  tortures  employed  to  break  their 
attachment -to  holiness,  that  often  excited  the  bitter- 
est hatred  of  their  enemies.  Compare  the  purity, 
benevolence,  and  humility  of  the  apostles  with  those 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  419 

of  any  philosophers  of  antiquity,  or  any  leaders  in 
modern  infidelity.  Pliny  the  Roman  governor,  in 
the  first  century,  having  investigated  extensively, 
and  even  by  torture,  the  moral  character  of  the  Chris- 
tians who  filled  the  province  over  which  he  presided, 
declares,  in  his  celebrated  letter  to  Trajan,  that  he 
could  discover  nothing  more  against  them  than  that 
*'  they  were  accustomed,  on  a  stated  day,  to  meet  before 
daylight,  and  to  repeat  among  themselves  a  hymn  to 
Christ  as  to  a  god,  and  to  bind  themselves  by  an  oath 
not  to  commit  any  wickedness,  but  on  the  contrary, 
to  abstain  from  thefts,  robberies,  and  adulteries ;  also 
not  to  violate  their  promise,  or  deny  a  pledge ;  after 
which  it  was  their  custom  to  separate,  and  to  meet 
again  at  a '  promiscuous,  harmless  meal."  Gibbon 
fully  sustains  this  testimony.  By  his  description 
alone,  the  primitive  Christians  were  lights  of  une- 
qualled excellence  in  the  midst  of  heathen  darkness 
and  depravity.  What  Christians  were  in  primitive 
ages  they  still  remain,  exactly  in  proportion  as  you 
have  reason  to  believe  their  hearts  to  be  engaged  in 
their  faith.  To  say  in  this  country  that  any  one  is  a 
true  Christian,  is  at  once  to  give  a  certificate  that  he 
is  worthy  of  all  confidence,  and  more  than  usually 
virtuous.  We  could  not  desire  a  more  complete  proof 
of  public  opinion  than  this,  as  to  the  personal  fruits 
of  the  gospel.  The  bare  fact  that  there  are  hypocrit- 
ical professors  of  the  Christian  character,  that  bad 
men  will  put  themselves  to  the  self-denial  of  endeav- 
oring to  act  and  seem  like  Christians,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  gaining  confidence  in  their  integrity,   is  a 


42(1  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

strong  proof  of  the  public  estimation  in  which  Chris- 
tian virtue  is  held,  and  of  the  genuine  gold  of  which 
the  character  of  a  real  disciple  of  Christ  is  composed. 
Men  never  counterfeit  a  spurious  currency.  Copper 
coin  is  too  cheap  to  tempt  a  forgery.  We  never  hear 
of  the  wicked  putting  on  the  mask  of  infidelity  to 
secure  a  character  for  honesty,  soberness,  chastity, 
faithfulness,  and  benevolence.  If  Christian  virtue 
were  not  in  high  repute,  and  much  more  current  in 
society  than  any  other,  hypocrites  would  take  care  to 
choose  a  mask  that  would  sit  more  pleasantly  upon 
their  vicious  propensities ;  they  would  select  a  cloak 
that  would  less  confine  and  smother  their  sinful  hab- 
its. It  is  notorious  among  us,  that  no  sooner  do  we 
hear  of  an  individual  that  he  has  become  a  communi- 
cant in  the  church,  than  the  presumption  is  that  he 
is  not  only  sober,  honest,  and  of  pure  morality,  but 
that  he  has  •  adopted  principles  of  a  very  elevated 
virtue  and  purity,  and  is  more  than  ordinarily  benev- 
olent. Whence  this,  but  from  the  general  experience 
of  what  communicants  are  ?  What  is  it  that  makes 
a  breach  of  truth  and  honesty,  or  an  act  of  cruelty, 
or  a  violation  of  justice,  or  a  departure  from  chastity 
or  temperance,  in  a  person  professing  to  be  a  genuine 
Christian,  so  immediately  and  generally  a  matter  of 
particular  notice  and  surprise  among  all  classes  ? 
Js  it  not  because  such  occurrences  are  singular,  and 
little  expected?  But  they  excite  no  surprise,  and 
but  little  attention,  when  attached  to  those  who  reject 
Christianity,  because  among  such  people  they  are 
neither  sin^lar  nor  unexpected. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  421 

Why  is  it  that  parents  so  universally  prefer  to 
have  genuine  Christians  intrusted  with  the  education 
of  their  children?  that  when  places  of  trust  and 
temptation  are  to  be  filled,  when  men  have  property 
to  invest,  or  agents  to  engage  in  a  business  requiring 
special  inflexibility  of  uprightness,  they  feel  it  to  bo 
at  once  a  heavy  weight  in  the  scale  of  a  candidate 
that  he  is  a  sincere  and  devoted  Christian  ?*  Who 
are  the  benevolent,  disinterested,  self-denying  laborers 
in  all  good  works  ?  Where  do  the  poor  and  hungry 
and  outcast  apply  for  assistance  with  the  most  confi- 

*  The  lecturer  was  once  particularly  struck  with  the  evi- 
dence of  this.  He  was  officially  connected  with  the  military 
academy  at  West  Point.  Two  offices  of  great  importance  to 
the  discipline  of  the  corps  of  cadets  were  to  be  filled  from  its 
own  ranks.  The  order  of  the  academy  had  suffered  materially 
for  want  of  officers  in  those  places  who  would  not  swerve  from 
the  duty  out  of  deference  to  public  opinion,  the  persuasions  or 
threatenings  of  their  fellows.  Two  cadets  were  selected  who 
had  recently  become  professors  of  religion.  They  were  assailed 
with  all  manner  of  influence  to  induce  them  to  relax  in  favor 
of  certain  indulgences  to  whicii  a  portion  of  the  corps  had  been 
accustomed  at  the  hands  of  their  predecessors.  I  need  not  say 
they  mildly  but  firmly  held  to  their  duty.  One  day,  as  they 
were  leading  out  the  companies  to  which  they  were  attached 
for  evening  parade,  I  said  to  an  officer  of  the  institution  Avho 
had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  their  selection,  "Why  have 
you  chosen  these  cadets  for  such  places  ?  One  of  them,  indeed, 
has  a. fine  soldierly  appearance,  but  the  other  is  just  the  con- 
trary, and  has  nothing  of  the  soldier  about  him."  "Why," 
said  he,  "the  truth  is,  we  required  those  who  would  do  their 
duty  without  regard  to  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  others, 
or  to  the  custom  that  has  been  prevalent  in  the  corps;  and  as 
they  had  recently  become  professors  of  religion,  we  expected 
they  would  be  firm."  I  never  heard  of  this  confidence  being 
disappointed. 


422  M'lLVAINL^S  EVIDENCES. 

dence  of  finding  a  sympathizing  heart  and  a  ready 
hand  ?  Go  around  to  all  the  noble  institutions  of 
charity — to  the  asylums  for  orphans,  for  widows,  for 
the  blind,  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  for  juvenile  crimi- 
nals ;  to  the  schools  of  gratuitous  instruction :  take 
a  list  of  those  who  give  money  and  time  and  toil  for 
their  support :  what  would  become  of  them  were  it 
not  for  the  Christians  associated  in  all  their  concerns? 
Who  are  they  that  tread  the  loathsome  alleys  and  dive 
into  the  wretched  habitations  of  vice  and  poverty  in 
crowded  cities,  in  cold  winter,  hunting  up  the  wretch- 
ed subjects  of  disease  and  pollution  for  the  purpose  of 
relieving  and  reclaiming  them?  Who  put  themselves 
to  the  pamful  work  of  begging  for  the  poor,  and  after 
bearing  all  the  extreme  unpleasantness  of  such  a  task, 
finish  their  labor  in  the  careful  distribution  of  their 
hard-earned  alms,  asking  no  recompense  but  that  of 
doing  good  ? 

From  Christians  in  general,  turn  your  attention 
to  their  leaders.  Is  it  not  well  known  that  when  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  can  be  commended  for  nothing 
more  than  a  moral  life  and  unblemished  honesty,  it  is 
considered  a  positive  condemnation  ?  To  give  him 
the  highest  praise  that  a  Deist  can  pretend  to,  and 
then  to  say  no  more,  is  to  leave  his  character  under 
a  taint.  It  is  expected  that  he  will  be  more  than 
moral  and  honest  and  friendly.  You  look  that  he 
shall  be  holy  ;  eminently  pure  ;  full  of  active  benev- 
olence, going  about  doing  good.  Prove  that  he  is 
destitute  of  these  distinguished  virtues,  and  public 
opinion  will  adjudge  him  unworthy  of  his  name  and 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  423 

profession.  That  all  ministers  are  not  exemplary  and 
devotedly  holy  men,  only  proves  that  the  sacred  office, 
like  all  others,  is  liable  to  be  intruded  on  by  the  un- 
worthy. Everybody  knows  that  such  cases,  instead 
of  being  favored  by  the  influence  of  Christianity,  are 
directly  opposed  to  it.  But  subtract  from  the  number 
of  the  Protestant  ministers  of  the  gospel,  every  one  on 
whom  the  least  suspicion  of  a  want  of  virtue  ever 
rested ;  leave  none  but  those  who  at  any  moment  can 
obtain  from  all  that  know  them  the  praise  of  being  the 
excellent  of  the  earth,  and  what  a  host  will  remain  of 
men  whose  lives  are  conspicuous  examples  of  inflex- 
ible integrity  and  of  exalted  principles  of  purity  and 
holiness — whose  daily  strength  is  laid  out  in  eflbrts 
to  benefit  their  fellow-creatures,'  and  around  whom,  at 
the  bare  mention  of  a  charge  implicating  their  char- 
acter, will  be  collected  the  widow,  the  fatherless,  the 
stranger,  with  those  who  have  been  lifted  up  out  of 
ignorance,  or  reclaimed  from  profligacy,  or  delivered 
from  wretchedness,  in  grateful  defence  of  their  best 
earthly  benefactors. 

Now,  for  the  sake  of  a  contrast,  let  us  turn  to 
the  lives  of  infidels,  I  do  not  deny  that  there  are  in- 
stances of  such  men  who  have  led  what  passes  for  a 
good  moral  life  ;  men  of  fair  dealing  in  business,  and 
of  sober,  decent  habits ;  whom  public  opinion,  the 
customs  of  society,  intellectual  occupations,  and 
prosperous  circumstances,  have  preserved  from  the 
slavery  of  low  propensities  and  criminal  deeds.  But 
what  is  there  in  such  virtue  beyond  a  fair  outside  ? 
Is  it  formed  upon  any  foundation  more  meritorious 


42i  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

than  that  of  reputation,  interest,  and  the  expectation 
of  society  ?  Could  you  trust  its  purity  in  the  pres- 
ence of  strong  temptation  ?  What  would  become  of 
it,  should  interest,  reputation,  and  human  customs 
withdraw  their  countenance  and  preach  a  contrary 
practice  ?  But  we  speak  of  infidels  as  a  body.  The 
fact  that  a  few  are  singled  out  and  marked  as  sober, 
honest,  moral  men,  only  proves  that  such  cases  are 
exceptions  to  the  character  of  the  heterogeneous  body 
with  which  they  are  associated.  It  is  a  general  rule, 
4;hat  when  you  say  of  a  man,  **  he  is  an  infidel,"  it 
is  to  say  that  he  is  not  a  moral  man,  not  a  benevo- 
lent man,  not  a  person  to  engage  in  any  self-denying 
labors  for  the  purpose  of  doing  good.  This  is  public 
opinion,  the  result  of  a  long  experiment  of  infidelity. 
Its  foundation  may  be  seen  in  the  whole  history  of 
criminal  jurisprudence  ;  in  the  records  of  our  courts ; 
the  annals  of  our  penitentiaries ;  the  police  of  large 
cities ;  the  inner  chambers  of  the  gambling-house 
and  the  brothel.  Cases  of  seduction,  adultery,  and 
suicide,  are  the  authorities  to  which  reference  should 
be  made  for  the  fruits  of  infidelity  as  generally  ex- 
hibited. 

A  French  writer,  addressing  Voltaire,  asks  him, 
"Will  you  dare  assert  that  it  is  in  philosophic 
families  we  are  to  look  for  models  of  filial  respect, 
conjugal  love,  sincerity  in  friendship,  or  fidelity 
among  domestics?  Were  you  disposed  to  do  so, 
would  not  your  own  conscience,  your  own  experi- 
ence, suppress  the  falsehood,  even  before  your  lips 
could  utter  it  ?"     An  anecdote  in  point  is  related  by 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  425 

Fuller.  A  man  of  literary  eminence,  but  an  infidel, 
was  accustomed  to  converse  with  a  brother  sceptic 
where  they  were  necessarily  heard  by  a  pious  but 
uneducated  countryman.  Afterwards  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  educated  infidel  became  an  humble  Chris- 
tian. Feeling  now  a  serious  concern  lest  his  con- 
versation should  have  poisoned  the  mind  of  the 
countryman,  he  inquired  if  such  was  the  fact.  **  By 
no  means,"  answered  the  other ;  *'  it  never  made  the 
least  impression."  "  No  impression  !  Why,  you  must 
have  known  that  we  had  read  and  thought  on  these 
things  much  more  than  you  had  any  opportunity  of 
doing."  "  0  yes,"  said  the  other  ;  "  but  I  knew 
also  your  manner  of  living.  I  knew  that  to  maintain 
such  a  course  of  conduct,  you  found  it  necessary  to 
renounce  Christianity."* 

It  is  well  known  how  very  seldom  such  a  thing 
has  occurred  as  the  detection,  in  any  penitentiary 
crime,  of  one  who  had  enjoyed  the  benefit  for  a 
considerable  period  of  a  Sunday-school  education, 
although  during  tlie  last  twenty  years  millions  in 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  have  had  that 
privilege.  What  if  all  these  had  been  trained  with 
equal  diligence  in  schools  of  infidelity ;  how  differ- 
ently would  the  effects  of  the  system  have  been 
marked  upon  the  records  of  crime,  and  upon  the 
peace,  purity,  and  order  of  society. 

The  precise  difference  between  the  fruits  of  Chris- 
tianity and  of  infidelity,  as  exhibited  in  the  general 
assembly  of  their  respective  professors,  consists  in 
*  The  Gospel  its  own  Witness. 


45^6  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

this :  There  are  those  who  profess  to  be  Christians, 
and  yet  are  wicked  men ;  but  they  are  wicked  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  influence  of  Christianity,  as 
well  as  to  the  character  and  influence  of  those  with 
whom  they  are  connected.  There  are  also  those  who 
profess  to  be  infidels,  and  yet  are  men  of  sobriety  and 
amiableness  and  moral  deportment;  but  they  are 
such  in  direct  opposition  to  the  influence  of  infi- 
delity, as  well  as  to  the  character  and  influence  ot 
those  with  whom,  as  infidels,  they  are  associated. 
The  former  and  the  latter  are  alike  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule. 

But  let  us  turn  from  infidels  in  general  to  their 
teachers  and  leaders.  A  stream  is  seldom  purer  than 
its  fountain.  A  river  rises  no  higher  than  its  source. 
We  may  consider  the  chief  priests  and  scribes,  the 
ciders  and  rulers  and  champions  of  infidelity,  who 
have  constructed  its  various  creeds  and  composed  its 
books  of  scripture — its  Humes  and  Tindals  and 
Bolingbrokes  and  Paines  and  Yoltaires  and  Rous- 
seaus — as  affording  in  the  average  of  their  character 
a  fair  standard  for  the  measurement  of  the  moral 
stature  of  infidels  in  general.  What  then  was  the 
moral  worth  of  those  renowned  leaders  in  the  war 
against  Christianity  ?  Let  us  look  at  their  prin- 
ciples. 

Herbert  maintained  that  the  indulgence  of  lust 
and  anger  is  no  more  to  be  blamed  than  the  thirst  of 
a  fever,  or  the  drowsiness  of  a  lethargy.  Thus  every 
vicious  propensity  was  licensed.  Hobbes,  that  every 
man  has  a  right  to  all  things,  and  may  lawfully  get 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  427 

them  if  he  can.  Thus,  all  theft  was  licensed.  Again, 
that  a  subject  may  lawfully  deny  Christ  before  a 
magistrate,  although  he  believes  in  Christ  in  his 
heart.  Thus,  all  hypocrisy  was  licensed.  Again, 
that  a  ruler  is  not  bound  by  any  obligation  of  truth 
or  justice,  and  can  do  no  wrong  to  his  subjects. 
Thus,  all  tyrannical  oppression  and  cruelty  were 
licensed.  Again,  that  the  civil  law  is  the  sole  foun- 
dation of  good  and  evil,  of  right  and  wrong.  Thus, 
moral  principle  is  as  various  as  climate  and  country, 
and  vice  in  one  place  may  be  exalted  virtue  in  an- 
other. Hume  maintained  that  self-denial,  self-morti- 
fication, and  humility,  are  not  virtuous,  but  useless 
and  mischievous  ;  that  pride  and  self- valuation,  inge- 
nuity, eloquence,  strength  of  body,  etc.,  are  virtues ; 
that  suicide  is  lawful  and  commendable ;  that  adul- 
tery must  be  parctised,  if  we  would  obtain  all  the 
advantages  of  life;  that  female  infidelity,  when 
known,  is  a  small  thing ;  when  unknown,  nothing. 
Bolingbroke,  that  ambition,  the  lust  of  power,  ava- 
rice, and  sensuality,  may  *be '  lawfully  gratified,  if 
they  can  be  safely  gratified  ;  that  modesty  is  inspired 
by  mere  prejudice,  and  has  its  sole  foundation  in 
vanity ;  that  man's  chief  end  is  to  gratify  the  appe- 
tites and  inclinations  of  the  flesh ;  that  *'  adultery  Ls 
no  violation  of  the  law,  or  religion  of  nature ;  that 
there  is  no  wrong  in  lewdness,  except  in  the  highest 
incest."* 

These  principles  will  suffice  as  specimens  of  in- 
fidel writers  in  regard  to  moral  obligation.     It  is  fair 
♦  See  Dwight  on  Infidel  PhiloEophy. 


428  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

to  judge  men  by  their  professions.  Few  rise  above 
their  opinions  in  practice,  none  in  heart.  When 
one  contends  that  he  may  innocently  indulge  his 
vicious  propensities,  we  need  not  doubt  that  he  does 
indulge  them.  These  writers  either  believed  what 
they  professed,  or  they  did  not.  If  the  latter,  they 
were  gross  hypocrites,  endeavoring  to  spread  what 
they  knew  was  deadly  poison.  If  the  former,  then 
tell  me  what  kind  of  practice — what  veracity,  what 
honesty,  what  chastity,  or  any  other  virtue,  can  be 
supposed  to  have  dwelt  in  men  who  in  grave,  philo- 
sophical discussions  could  publish  such  sentiments  to 
the  world?  Had  we  no  other  evidence  of  the  lives 
they  led,  we  might  conclude  with  certainty,  from 
these  professed  opinions,  that  while  one  here  and  there 
may  not  have  carried  them  out  to  their  full  extent, 
none  could  have  been  in  any  sense  good  men ;  while 
the  mass  of  them  must  have  been  without  any  regard 
to  truth,  guilty  of  gross  hypocrisy  and  dissimulation, 
willing  to  offer  any  sacrifice  at  the  shrine  of  ambition 
and  human  praise,  unbridled  in  temper  and  passion ; 
seducers,  adulterers,  and  corrupters  of  their  fellow- 
creatures.  Such  is  the  description  which,  so  far  as 
any  accounts  of  their  private  character  have  been 
received,  is  fully  sustained  by  facts. 

Hume  pretended  to  a  great  diligence  in  search  of 
truth,  and  spent  all  his  powers  against  the  gospel; 
and  yet,  says  Dr.  Johnson,  *'  confessed  that  he  had 
never  read  the  New  Testament  with  attention."  His 
friend  in  scepticism,  Adam  Smith,  considered  him 
'*  as  approaching  as  nearly  to  the  idea  of  a  perfectly 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  429 

wise  and  virtuous  man,  as  perhaps  the  nature  of  hu- 
man frailty  will  permit."  But  since,  in  his  estima- 
tion, female  infidelity  when  unknown  was  nothing, 
one  needs  pretty  positive  evidence  to  believe  that  he 
was  specially  pure.* 

Gibbon's  moral  character  is  seen  in  his  history  of 
the  Roman  empire — a  work  full  of  hypocrisy,  per- 
version, and  impurity ;  the  production  of  a  mind  as 
unchaste  as  it  was  insidious.  When  he  could  not 
find  an  occasion  to  insult  Christianity,  he  made  it  by 
false  glosses  or  dishonest  colorings.     **  A  rage   for 

•  That  Hume  was  virtuous  without  chastity,  is  evident  from 
his  essays.  They  contain  passages  by  way  of  wit  or  illustra- 
tion, not  only  gratuitously  introduced,  but  forced  in  by  a  mere 
amateur  taste  of  the  writer,  which  a  chaste  mind  would  not 
have  thought  of,  and  a  man  of  chaste  habits  and  principles 
would  have  rejected,  as  both  polluting  to  his  pages  and  dis- 
graceful to  his  character.  I  cannot  believe  that  one  who  could 
venture  on  such  sentences  before  the  public  eye,  and  show  such 
jpleasure  and  evident  facility  in  grovelling  indecencies  of  writ- 
ing, was  free  from  unclean  practice  where  no  public  eye  was 
to  be  encountered.  And  still,  in  Adam  Smith's  opinion,  ho 
may  have  been  "as  perfectly  virtuous  as  the  nature  of  human 
frailty  would  permit."  What  exceptions  are  included  under 
this  last  clause,  who  can  say?  In  an  infidel's  creed,^virtuc 
has  no  more  quarrel  with  unchasteness,  than,  in  the  creed  of  the 
Spartans,  it  had  with  theft.  '  Among  the  latter,  nothing  was 
required  to  make  stealing  virtuous,  but  concealment.  Among 
the  virtuosi  of  infidelity,  what  more  is  required  to  establish 
the  innocence  of  impurity  ? 

The  person  who  put  out  an  edition  of  Hume's  Essays  in 
this  country,  dedicating  it  to  the  president  of  the  United  States, 
and  lauding  Hume  and  his  principles  to  the  skies,  gliowcd 
very  plainly  how  he  had  profited  by  his  favorite  volume,  at 
le^^t  by  the  essay  in  defence  of  suicide.  He  killed  himself  by 
drunkenness. 


430  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

indecency  pervades  the  whole  work,  but  especially 
the  last  volumes.  If  the  history  were  anonymous,  I 
should  guess  that  these  disgraceful  obscenities  were 
written  by  some  debauchee,  who  having  from  age, 
or  accident,  or  excess,  survived  the  practice  of  lust, 
still  indulged  himself  in  its  speculations,  and  exposed 
the  impotent  imbecility  after  he  had  lost  the  vigor 
of  the  passions."*  This  was  no  "  arrow  shot  at  a 
venture." 

What  gross  hypocrisy  and  lying  pervade  the 
writings  of  Herbert,  Hobbes,  Shaftesbury,  Woolston, 
Tindal,  Collins,  Blount,  Chubb,  and  Bolingbroke. 
One  while  they  are  praising  Christianity,  exalting 
Jesus,  professing  to  have  the  sincerest  desire  that 
the  gospel  may  be  promoted.  At  another  time  they 
are  scoffing  at  its  essential  doctrines,  charging  its 
founder  with  imposture,  and  diligently  laboring  to 
destroy  it.  Hobbes  affirms  that  the  Scriptures  are 
the  voice  of  God,  and  the  foundation  of  all  obliga- 
tion, and  yet,  that  all  religion  is  ridiculous.  Shaftes- 
bury says,  that  it  is  censurable  to  represent  the  gospel 
as  a  fraud ;  that  he  hopes  its  enemies  will  be  recon- 
ciled*to  it,  and  its  friends  prize  it  more  highly ;  and 
yet  he  represents  salvation  as  ridiculous,  insinuates 
that  the  designs  of  Christ  were  those  of  deep  am- 
bition, and  his  zeal  and  spirit  savage  and  perse- 
cuting ;  that  the  Scriptures  were  an  artful  invention 
for  mercenary  purposes.  Collins  protests  that  none 
are  further  than  he  from  being  engaged  in  the  cause 
of  infidelity  ;  that  he  writes  for  the  honor  of  Jesus, 
*  Person. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  431 

and  the  defence  of  Christianity ;  to  advance  the  Mes- 
siaship  and  truth  of  the  holy  Jesus,  ^'to  whom,"  he 
says,  ^^be  glory  for  ever  and  ever,  amen:"  and  yet 
he  casts  the  most  scurrilous  reflections  on  this  holy 
One,  compares  the  gospels  to  GuUiverian  tales,  says 
they  are  full  of  absurdities,  and  must  be  rejected,  and 
the  authority  of  Jesus  along  with  them.*  ^ 

Such  are  a  few  examples  of  the  honesty  of  such 
men.  What  if  Christians  should  thus  flatter  infi- 
delity, and  next  revile  it  ?  When  would  their  oppo- 
nents cease  exposing  their  hypocrisy  ?  The  best  of 
infidel  writers  cannot  be  trusted  on  the  score  of  ve- 
racity when  Christianity  is  in  question.  The  corrup- 
tion of  the  texts  of  books,  the  misrepresentation  of 
facts,  the  grossest  unfairness  in  citations,  are  ac- 
counted lawful  by  their  Humes  and  Gibbons  in  this 
controversy.  One  of  their  own  fraternity  may  here  be 
allowed  to  testify.  **  If,"  says  Rousseau,  "  our  phi- 
losophers were  able  to  discover  truth,  which  of  them 
would  interest  himself  about  it?  There  is  not  one 
among  them  who  would  not  prefer  his  own  error  to 
the  truth  discovered  by  another.  A^ere  is  the  phi- 
losopher who,  for  his  own  glory,  would  not  willingly 
deceive  the  whole  human  race  ?"  I  need  not  spend 
time,  after  all  that  has  been  exhibited,  in  showing 
that  such  leaders  in  infidelity  have  evinced  no  spirits 
of  benevolence,  no  disposition  to  labor  for  the  benefit 
of  their  fellow-creatures ;  but  on  the  contrary  have 
lived  unto  themselves,  and  almost  without  exception 
cultivated  the  coldest  selfishness. 

*  Dwight  on  Infidel  Philosophy. 


432  IC'ILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

But  to  speak  more  directly  of  the  morals  of  lead- 
ing inBdels.  Bolingbroke  was  a  libertine  of  intem- 
perate habits  and  unrestrained  lust.  Temple  was  a 
corrupter  of  all  that  came  near  him,  given  up  to  ease 
and  pleasure.  Emerson,  an  eminent  mathematician, 
was  *'  rude,  vulgar,  and  frequently  immoral."  **  In- 
toxication and  profane  language  were  familiar  to  him. 
Towards  the  close  of  life,  being  afflicted  with  the 
stone,  he  would  crawl  about  the  floor  on  his  hands 
and  knees,  sometimes  praying,  sometime3  swearing." 
The  morals  of  the  Earl  of  Rochester  are  well  known. 
Q-odwin  was  a  lewd  man  by  his  own  confession,  as 
well  as  the  unblushing  advocate  of  lewdness.  Shaftes- 
bury and  Collins,  while  endeavoring  to  destroy  the 
gospel,  partook  of  the  Lord's  supper,  thus  professing 
Christian  faith  for  admission  to  oflice.  "  WooJston 
was  a  gross  blasphemer.  Blount  solicited  his  sister- 
in-law  to  marry  him,  and  being  refused  shot  himself. 
Tindal  was  originally  a  Protestant,  then  turned  Papist, 
then  Protestant  again,  merely  to  suit  the  times  ;  and 
was  at  the  same  time  infamous  for  vice  in  general, 
and  the  total  want  of  principle.  He  is  said  to  have 
died  with  this  prayer  in  his  mouth :  '  If  there  is  a 
God,  I  desire  that  he  may  have  mercy  on  me.' 
Hobbes  wrote  his  Leviathan  to  serve  the  cause  of 
Charles  I.;  but  finding  him  fail  of  success,  he  turned 
it  to  the  defence  of  Cromwell,  and  made  a  merit  of 
this  fact  to  the  usurper,  as  Hobbes  himself  unblush- 
ingly  declared  to  Lord  Clarendon."*  Need  I  describe 
Voltaire  ? — prince  of  scoffers,  as  Hume  was  prince  of 
*  Dwight  on  Infidel  Philosophy. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  433 

sceptics — in  childhood,  initiated  into  infidelity ;  in  boy- 
hood, famous  for  daring  blasphemy;  in  manhood,  dis- 
tinguished for  a  malignant,  violent  temper,  for  cold- 
blooded disruptions  of  all  the  ties  and  decencies  of  the 
family  circle,  for  the  ridicule  of  whatever  was  affect- 
ing, and  the  violation  of  whatever  was  confidential. 
Ever  increasing  in  duplicity  and  hypocritical  man- 
agement with  age  and  practice,  those  whom  his  wit 
attracted  and  his  buffoonery  amused,  were  either  dis- 
gusted or  polluted  by  his  loathsome  vices.  Lies  and 
oaths  in  their  support,  were  nothing  to  his  maw. 
Those  whom  he  openly  called  his  friends,  he  took 
pains  secretly  to  calumniate ;  flattering  them  to  their 
faces,  ridiculing  and  reviling  them  behind  their  backs. 
Years  only  added  stiffness  to  the  disgusting  features 
of  his  impiety,  coldness  to  his  dark  malignity,  and 
fury  to  his  impetuous  temper.  Throughout  life  he 
was  given  up  "  to  work  all  uncleanness  with  greedi- 
ness." Such  was  the  witty  Voltaire,  who,  in  the 
midst  of  his  levity,  had  feehng  and  seriousness  enough 
to  wish  he  had  never  been  born. 

What  shall  we  say  of  J.  J.  Rousseau  ?  A  thief 
and  liar  and  debauched  profligate  by  his  own  ^*  Con- 
fession." Educated  a  Protestant,  he  turned  Papist 
for  "subsistence;"  and  afterwards  professed  Protes- 
tantism again  at  Geneva,  that  he  might  enjoy  the 
rights  of  citizenship,  while  all  the  while  he  was  a  foul- 
mouthed  infidel.  He  began  life  as  an  apprentice. 
Having  robbed  his  master  and  others,  he  fled  and 
became  a  footman;  in  which  capacity,  having  again 
acted  the  thief,  he  tried  to  swear  the  crime  on  a  maid- 

Fvidences.  1 9 


434  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

servant,  who  lost  her  place  by  his  villany.  Stealing 
he  never  abandoned,  however  abandoned  himself. 
Late  in  life  he  said,  "  I  have  been  a  rogue,  and  am 
so  still,  for  trifles  which  I  had  rather  take  than  ask 
for."  Of  his  intercourse  with  vile  women ;  how  he 
tix)k  advantage  of  the  hospitality  of  friends  to  ruin 
the  character  of  those  who  received  him  kindly ;  how 
he  coldly  committed,  one  by  one,  the  offspring  of  his 
base  connections  to  the  charity  of  the  public,  that  he 
might  be  spared  their  trouble  and  have  room  for  more ; 
how  utterly  devoid  he  was  of  all  natural  affection, 
as  well  as  all  decency,  my  lecture  is  too  modest  to 
relate.  To  use  his  own  language,  guilty  without 
remorse^  he  soon  became  so  without  measure.  Such 
was  the  man  whom  infidels  have  delighted  to  honor. 
The  friends  of  Christ  have  reason  to  thank  him  for 
saying,  "  I  cannot  believe  the  gospel."  "  For  what 
communion  hath  light  with  darkness?  And  what 
concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial  ?" 

Nothing  but  the  circulation  attempted  of  late  to 
be  given  to  the  scurrilous  writings  of  Paine,  induces 
me  to  descend  low  enough  amidst  *'  the  offscouring 
of  all  things,"  to  speak  of  the  life  of  that  miserable 
man.  His  first  wife  is  said  to  have  died  by  ill  usage. 
His  second  was  rendered  so  miserable  by  neglect  and 
nnkindness,  that  they  separated  by  mutual  agree- 
ment. His  third  companion^  not  his  wife,  was  the 
victim  of  his  seduction  while  he  lived  upon  the  hos- 
pitality of  her  husband.  Holding  a  place  in  the  excise 
of  England,  he  was  dismissed  for  irregularity;  re- 
stored, and  dismissed  again  for  fraud,  without  recovery. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  435 

UnaLle  to  get  employment  where  he  was  known,  he 
came  to  this  country,  commenced  poHtician,  and  pre- 
tended to  some  faith  in  Christianity.  Congress  gave 
him  an  office,  from  which,  being  soon  found  guilty 
of  a  breach  of  trust,  he  resigned  in  disgrace.*     The 

*  He  resigned  his  office  to  escape  being  expelled  from  it. 
The  author  is  much  indebted  to  the  Hon.  William  Jay  for  the 
following  valuable  extract  from  a  document  found  among  the 
papers  of  his  father,  the  Hon.  John  Jay.  The  document  was 
written  while  Mr.  Jay  was  minister  to  Spain,  about  the  year 
1780,  and  was  an  introduction  to  an  intended  history  of  his 
Spanish  negotiations.  The  annexed  extract  would  make  a  val- 
uable  page  in  a  history  of  Paine. 

"  It  is  proper  to  observe  tlrat  Mr.  Deane,  in  consequence  of 
his  recall,  returned  to  America  in  1778 ;  and  that  on  his  arrival 
Congress  went  into  an  inquiry  into  his  conduct.  Mr.  Deano 
published  a  paper  in  the  Philadelphia  Gazette,  containing  stric- 
tures on  the  delays  of  Congress  respecting  his  affairs,  and  heavy 
accusations  against  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  to  whose  machinations  he 
attributed  the  conduct  of  Congress  towards  him.  This  publica- 
tion caused  a  ferment  throughout  America,  and  very  great  heats 
in  Congress.  The  public  papers  teemed  with  publications  for 
and  against  Mr.  Deane  and  Mr.  Lee.  Among  the  writers  for  the 
latter  was  a  Thomas  Paine,  an  Englishman,  who  had  been  a  hack- 
ney writer  in  London,  and  on  his  arrival  in  America  was  employ- 
ed by  Aikin  in  compiling  and  correcting  papers  for  his  magazine. 
In  this  capacity  his  attachment  to  the  American  cause  became 
suspected.  He  struck  out  several  passages  in  papers  composed 
by  Dr.  Witherspoon,  as  being  too  free.  He  afterwards  became 
attached  to  some  leading  men  who  were  most  zealous  for  Amer- 
ican independence.  He  published  a  pamphlet  on  that  subject, 
called  Common  Sense,  and  obtained  much  credit  with  the  people 
for  it.  He  was  afterwards  made  Secretary  to  the  Committee  for 
Foreign  Affairs;  and  when  General  Washington  was  retreating 
before  the  enemy  in  Jersey,  and  the  minds  of  many  were  filled 
with  apprehensions,  he  was  again  so  suspected,  as  that  Con- 
gress became  uneasy  lest  the  committee's  papers  in  his  cus- 
tody should  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands,  and  took  their  measures 


436  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

French  revolution  allured  him  to  France.  Habits  of 
intoxication  made  him  a  disagreeable  inmate  in  the 
house  of  the  American  minister,  where  out  of  com- 
passion he  had  been  received  as  a  guest.     During  all 

accordingly.  The  success  at  Trenton  gave  things  a  new  aspect, 
and  new  courage  to  Paine. 

^*  On  the  present  occasion,  his  zeal  for  his  employers  carried 
him  too  far.  The  official  papers  had  brought  him  acquainted 
with  the  state  of  American  affairs  at  VersailleSj  and  in  his  paper 
of  the  2d  of  January  he  very  imprudently  inserted  the  follow- 
ing paragrapli :  '  If  Mr.  Dcane,  or  any  other  gentleman  will 
procure  an  order  from  Congress  to  inspect  an  account  in  my 
office,  or  any  of  Mr.  Deane's  friends  in  Congress  will  take  the 
trouble  of  coming  themselves,  I  will  give  him  or  them  my 
attendance,  and  show  Ihem  in  a  handwriting  which  Mr.  Deane 
is  well  acquainted  with,  that  the  supplies  he  so  pompously 
pli^mcs  himself  upon,  were  promised  and  engaged,  and  that  as 
a  presentj  before  he  even  arrived  in  France,'  etc. 

"The  minister  of  France,  Mr.  Gerard,  being  aware  of  the 
consequences  which  would  result  from  these  assertions,  and 
feeling  very  sensibly  how  much  the  honor  of  France  was 
wounded  by  a  supposition  of  her  having  given  gratuitous  aid  to 
America,  contrary  to  her  assurances  to  Britain,  did  on  the  5th 
of  January,  1779,  present  a  memorial  to  Congress  referring  to 
this  publication,  denying  the  assertions  they  contained,  and 
representing  the  propriety  of  their  being  disowned  by  Congress. 
The  day  following,  the  memorial  was  considered,  and  various 
debates  not  proper  to  be  specified  here,  ensued.  Paine  and  the 
printer  were  ordered  to  attend  at  the  bar  of  the  House.  The 
former  confessed  himself  the  author,  and  the  latter  the  publisher, 
of  the  paper  in  question.  Many  motions  were  made,  debated, 
and  rejected,  before  the  House  adopted  the  resolutions  which 
finally  took  place.  The  subject  was  interesting  to  the  public 
to  the  House,  and  particularly  to  the  friends  of  the  parties  in 
difference,  as  well  as  Mr.  Paine's  patrons,  and,  as  is  always  the 
ca.se  on  such  occasions,  more  warmth  than  prudence  took  place. 
The  majority,  however,  were  of  opinion  that  Paine  had  pros- 
tituted his  office  to  party  purposes,  and  therefore  ought  to  ba 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  437 

this  time,  his  life  was  a  compound  of  ingratitude  and 
perfidy,  of  hypocrisy  and  avarice,  of  lewdness  and 
adultery.  In  June,  1809,  the  poor  creature  died  in 
this  country.  The  lady  in  whose  house  he  lived  re- 
lates that  ''he  was  daily  drunk,  and  in  his  few  mo- 
ments of  soberness  was  always  quarrelling  with  her, 
and  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  family."  At  that  time 
*'  he  was  deliberately  and  disgustingly  filthy."  He  had 
an  old  black  woman  for  his  servant,  as  drunken  as  her 
master.  He  accused  her  of  stealing  his  rum ;  she 
retaliated  by  accusing  him  of  being  an  old  drunkard. 
They  would  lie  on  the  same  floor,  sprawling  and 
swearing  and  threatening  to  fight,  but  too  intoxicated 
to  engage  in  battle.  He  removed  afterwards  to  vari- 
ous families,  continuing  his  habits,  and  paying  for 
his  board  only  when  compelled.  In  his  drunken  fits, 
he  was  accustomed  to  talk  about  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.*  Probably  much  of  his  book  against  the 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  was  inspired  by  his  cups. 
Such  was  the  author  of  "the  Age  of  Reason;"  such 
'  the  apostle  of  mob-infidelity.  Unhappy  man !  Nei- 
ther he,  nor  Rousseau,  nor  Yoltaire  is  dead,  except 
in  the  flesh.  Their  immortal  souls  are  thinking  as 
actively  at  least  as  ever.  We  and  they  will  stand, 
on  the  same  great  day,  before  the  bar  of  God.  How 
awful,  in  reference  to  such  despisers  and  scoffers,  is 
that  description,  "Behold,  he  cometh  with  clouds; 

discharged.  This  did  not  long  remain  a  secret  to  him.  and  to 
avoid  that  disgrace  he  resigned." 

P.  S.  Mr.  Jay  was  a  member  of  Congress  at  the  time  of  the 
above  occurrences. 

*  Cheetham's  Life  of  Paine. 


438  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

and  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  also  which 
pierced  him." 

3.  We  proceed  to  speak,  in  the  last  place,  of  the 
fruits  of  Christianity,  as  displayed  in  the  deaths  of 
its  genuine  disciples^  in  contrast  with  those  con- 
nected with  infidelity. 

There  is  no  question  to  which  the  testimony  of 
the  death-hed  is  so  legitimately  applicable,  as  that 
between  Infidelity  and  Christianity ;  not  only  because 
the  hour  of  death  is  specially  to  be  relied  on,  as  an 
hour  of  dispassionate  and  conscientious  judgment, 
but  particularly  because  it  is  one  of  the  precious 
promises  of  the  gospel,  that  true  believers  shall  find 
the  sting  of  death  taken  away,  and  experience  rich  con- 
solation and  support  when  heart  and  flesh  are  failing. 
Infidelity,  also,  has  published  her  promises  in  relation 
to  the  trial  of  death,  and  her  disciples  are  not  a  little 
disposed  to  boast  how  confidently  and  fearlessly  they 
could  meet  the  king  of  terrors.  Let  us  consult  expe- 
rience on  this  head. 

Have  Christians  experienced  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promises  on  which  they  trusted  ?  Have  infidels  made 
good  their  boasts?  With  regard  to  Christians,  it  is 
a  most  impressive  fact  that  such  a  thing  has  never 
been  known  as  any  one  being  sorry,  in  the  hour  of 
death,  that  he  had  embraced  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
We  have  often  seen  and  heard  of  persons  who  had 
spent  their  days  in  the  careless  neglect  of  religion, 
most  bitterly  lamenting,  when  they  found  themselves 
near  to  eternity,  that  they  had  not  been  devoted 
Christians.     It  is  invariably  the  case  that  genuine 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  439 

Christians,  when  they  look  back  on  their  lives  from 
the  verge  of  the  grave,  are  sorry  that  all  their  days 
had  not  been  spent  in  a  much  more  zealous  consecra- 
lion  to  the  service  of  Christ.  Professors  of  religion 
are  not  unfrequently  unhappy,  when  they  come  to  die, 
not  because  they  are  or  have  been  Christians,  but 
only  because  they  see  reason  to  fear  that  they  have 
not  been  real  Christians.  This  unhappiness  arises 
from  the  consciousness  of  being  too  much  like  those 
who  reject  the  gospel — too  little  under  the  influence 
of  its  Spirit — too  much  under  the  influence  of  a  prac- 
tical unbelie£  And  they  seek  consolation,  not  by 
endeavoring  to  banish  the  gospel  from  their  minds, 
but  by  pressing  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  seeking  to 
have  their  hearts  filled  by  his  Spirit.  But  among  all 
that  ever  named  the  name  of  Jesus,  from  the  death 
of  the  martyred  Stephen  to  the  present  hour,  the  mill- 
ions upon  millions  of  Christians  who  have  died  under 
all  manner  of  tortures,  and  in  all  manner  of  circum- 
stances calculated  to  try  the  strength  of  their  faith, 
not  a  philosopher  or  peasant,  not  a  noble  or  a  beggar, 
not  a  man,  woman,  or  child,  was  ever  known  to  repent 
that  his  preparation  to  die  was  that  of  the  faith  of 
Christ. 

On  the  contrary,  it  has  been  the  invariable  eflect 
of  the  religion  of  Christ,  that  those  who  in  the  days 
of  health  were  evidently  devoted  to  its  spirit  and 
duties,  when  death  approached  have  been  enabled  to 
await  the  event  with  an  humble,  submissive,  and 
cheerful  mind,  keeping  a  confident  eye  ''  unto  Jesus," 
as  the  finisher  as  well  as  author  of  their  faith,    ^hey 


440  I1'1LVAINE»S  EVIDENCES. 

have  felt  it  to  be  their  most  precious,  their  unspeak- 
able consolation  that  they  had  been  persuaded  to  be 
Christians.  Nothing  did  they  look  back  to  with  such 
thankfulness  as,  that  instead  of  having  lived  in  in- 
difference or  infidelity,  they  had  lived  a  life  of  faith 
upon  the  Son  of  God.  They  have  felt  that  however 
solemn,  and  to  the  flesh  painful  was  death,  to  them 
it  was  not  gloomy  nor  appalling,  nor  any  thing  to  be 
lamented,  but  only  a  short  valley  in  the  way  to  their 
everlasting  and  blissful  rest  with  God  on  high.  The 
most  timid  by  nature  have  stepped  down  without  fear 
or  doubt,  believing  in  Jesus,  and  walking  by  faith. 
The  affectionate  parent  has  found  such  an  accession  of 
strength  in  the  moment  of  separation  from  a  beloved 
and  helpless  family,  as  to  be  enabled  cheerfully  to  take 
the  last  look  and  leave  his  fatherless  children  with 
God.  The  young  man  in  the  prime  and  promise  of 
his  years,  with  every  thing  that  earth  could  give  to 
make  life  desirable,  has  had  the  prospect  of  a  better 
inheritance  presented  to  liis  mind  with  such  assurance, 
that  he  had  a  strong  desire  '*  to  depart,  and  be  with 
Christ."  The  nearer  Christians  have  come  to  eter- 
nity, and  the  sharper  the  trial  of  their  faith,  the 
nearer  have  they  drawn  to  Christ,  the  more  closely 
have  they  embraced  his  cross,  the  more  necessary 
has  seemed  his  death  for  their  sins,  the  more  precious 
and  full  of  glory  the  whole  plan  of  redemption.  Such 
is  an  average  testimony  in  point  of  consolation  fur- 
nished by  the  death-beds  of  the  disciples  of  Christ, 
when  disease  or  the  suddenness  of  departure  has  not 
prevented  them  from  all  testimony  whatever. 


FRUITS  OF   CKRlSTIANlir.  441 

But  in  innumerable  instances  the  facts  are  much 
more  positive.  It  is  frequently  the  case  that  dying 
Christians,  as  they  draw  near  to  eternity,  seem  to 
catch  the  song  and  share  the  bliss  of  heaven.  Their 
faith  not  only  delivers  them  from  gloom  and  fear,  but 
fills  them  with  joy  and  triumph.  They  are  not  only 
supported,  but  exalted  ;  unspeakably  happier  in  the 
agonies  of  death,  than  ever  they  were  in  the  vigor  of 
health.  As  the  body  sinks,  the  spirit  rises  in  strength 
of  faith  and  confidence  of  approaching  glory.  A 
smile  of  joy  plays  upon  the  death-struck  counte- 
nance. The  tenderest  affection  and  the  most  benevo- 
lent interest  for  all  around  them,  with  earnest  prayer 
that  sinners  may  come  to  Jesus,  and  that  his  gospel 
may  be  embraced  in  all  the  world,  occupy  their  latest 
moments.  They  die,  thanking  God  who  giveth  them 
the  victory  through  Jesus  Christ. 

This  is  no  picture  of  imagination.  It  is  drawn 
from  facts  which  the  lecturer  has  frequently  had  the 
privilege  of  witnessing — facts  such  as  have  been  often 
repeated  in  the  observation  of  all  whose  duty  has  led 
them  often  to  visit  and  converse  with  the  dying  on 
the  subject  of  religion — facts  of  which  the  domestic 
history  of  the  gospel  in  all  ages  is  full,  and  of  which 
no  effrontery  can  attempt  a  denial.  Paul,  in  the 
near  view  of  a  painful  death,  exclaimed,  "  I  am  now 
ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is 
at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith  ;  henceforth  there 
is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which 
the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that 
19* 


442  H'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

(lay ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  nnto  all  them  also  that 
love  his  appearing."*  Poly  carp,  when  they  would 
have  nailed  him  to  the  stake,  said,  **  Let  me  remain 
as  I  am ;  for  He  who  giveth  me  strength  to  sustain 
the  fire,  will  enable  me  also,  without  your  securing 
me  with  nails,  to  remain  unmoved  in  the  fire." 
Then  being  bound  for  a  burnt-offering,  he  exclaimed, 
'^  0  Father,  I  bless  thee  that  thou  hast  counted  me 
worthy  of  this  day  and  this  hour  to  receive  my  por- 
tion in  the  cup  of  Christ."  Bilney,  putting  his  finger 
into  the  flame  of  a  candle  on  the  night  before  he  was 
burned,  repeated  that  promise,  "When  thou  walkest 
through  the  fire,  it  shall  not  burn  thee ;"  and  said, 
'^  I  constantly  believe  that  howsoever  the  stubble  of 
this  body  shall  be  wasted  by  it,  yet  my  soul  shall  be 
purged  thereby — a  pain  for  the  time,  whereon,  not- 
withstanding, followeth  joy  unspeakable."  Hooper, 
going  to  the  stake,  being  addressed  by  a  papist  in 
the  language  of  condolence,  answered,  '*  Be  sorry  for 
thyself,  and  lament  thine  own  wickedness ;  for  I  am 
well,  I  thank  God,  and  death  to  me  for  Christ's  sake 
is  welcome."  Bishop  Bedell,  apprehending  a  speedy 
dissolution,  assembled  his  family,  and  with  many 
other  words,  declared,  **  Knowing  that  I  must  shortly 
l)ut  off  this  my  tabernacle,  I  know  also  that  I  have 
a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens.  Therefore,  to  me  to  live  is 
Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain ;  which  increases  my  de- 
sire even  now  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which  is 
far  better.  I  ascend  to  my  Father  and  your  Father, 
•  2  Tim.  4  :  6-8. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  443 

to  my  God  and  your  God,  through  the  all-sufficient 
merits  of  Jesus  Christ  my  Redeemer,  who  ever  lives 
to  make  intercession  for  me."  Fletcher's  continual 
exclamation  while  dying  was,  ''  God  is  love  ;  God  is 
love."  He  panted  for  words  to  express  what  he  felt 
in  the  utterance  of  that  precious  truth.  Finley,  in 
the  act  of  departing,  used  such  language  as  this : 
**  A  Christian's  death  is  the  best  part  of  his  exist- 
ence." "  Blessed  be  God,  eternal  rest  is  at  hand." 
"  The  Lord  hath  given  me  the  victory.  I  exult ; 
I  triumph.  Now  I  know  that  it  is  impossible  that 
faith  should  not  triumph  over  earth  and  hell." 
**  Lord  Jesus,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit ;  I 
do  it  witli  confidence  ;  I  do  it  with  full  assurance. 
I  know  that  thou  wilt  keep  that  which  I  have  com- 
mitted to  thee."*  Said  the  dying  Payson,  ^*  While 
my  body  is  thus  tortured,  the  soul  is  perfectly,  per- 
fectly happy  and  peaceful,  more  than  I  can  possibly 
express  to  you.  I  lie  here  and  feel  these  convulsions 
extending  higher  and  higher,  without  the  least  un- 
easiness ;  but  my  soul  is  filled  with  joy  unspeakable. 
I  seem  to  swim  in  a  flood  of  glory  which  God  pours 
down  upon  me.  And  I  know,  I  know  that  my  happi- 
ness is  but  begun.  I  cannot  doubt  that  it  will  last 
for  ever."  And  what  shall  I  say  more?  For  the 
time  would  fail  to  tell  of  Latimer  and  Ridley  and 
Hooker,  of  Romaine  and  Newton  and  Scott,  of  Swartz 
and  Buchanan  and  Martyn,  of  Oberlin  and  Rich- 
mond, of  Evarts  and  Cornelius,  leaders  in  the  faith, 

*  See  "Deaths  of  Hume  and  Finley  Compared,"  by  Dr. 
Mason,  in  the  tract  No.  190,  of  the  American  Tract  Society. 


444  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

"  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy."  But  should 
we  go  into  the  more  retired  walks  of  Christian  life, 
and  consult  tlie  annals  of  every  village  church,  and 
gather  out  the  examples  of  holy  patience  in  suffer- 
ing, and  sublime  faith  and  deep  humility,  and  joy 
unspeakable  in  dying,  which  the  eye  of  God  has  seen 
among  the  poor  of  this  world  in  every  age  since  the 
death  of  Christ,  what  a  cloud  of  witnesses  would 
compass  us  about,  uniting  their  joyful  testimony  to 
Jesus  as  ''  ihe  resurrection  and  the  life" — to  the  gos- 
pel, as  in  all  its  promises  faithful  and  "  worthy  of  all 
acceptation."* 

•  A  beautiful  exhibition  of  the  effects  of  the  gospel  is  found 
in  the  narrative  of  the  loss  of  the  Kent,  East  Indiamau,  in 
1825.  The  account  is  given  by  Major  M'Gregor,  who  was  not 
rendered  the  less  capable  of  calmly  observing  the  events  he  has 
recorded,  or  of  firmly  bearing  his  part  in  the  dangers  of  that 
awful  crisis,  in  consequence  of  having  his  soul  kept  in  peace  by 
the  precious  hopes  of  a  disciple  of  Christ. 

While  the  ship  was  burning  below,  and  the  magazine  was 
every  moment  expected  to  blow  up,  and  not  a  soul  out  of  more 
than  six  hundred  had  a  thought  but  of  perishing  either  by  fire 
or  the  tempest;  while  some  were  standing  in  silent  resignation, 
or  stupid  insensibility,  and  others  were  given  up  to  the  most 
frantic  despair;  while  "some  on  their  knees  were  earnestly 
imploring  with  significant  gesticulations,  and  in  noisy  supplica- 
tions, the  mercy  of  Him  whose  arm,  they  exclaimed,  was  at 
length  outstretched  to  smite  them;"  and  others  had  sullenly 
seated  themselves  directly  over  the  magazine,  that  by  means  of 
the  expected  explosion  a  speedier  termination  might  be  put  to 
their  sufferings ;  "  several  of  the  soldiers'  wives  and  children, 
who  had  fled  for  temporary  shelter  into  the  after-cabins  on  the 
upper  decks,  were  engaged  in  prayer,  and  in  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures with  the  ladies,  some  of  whom  were  enabled,  with  wonder- 
ful self-possession,  to  offer  to  others  those  spiritual  consolations 
which  a  firm  and  intelligent  trust  in  the  Redeemer  of  the  world 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  445 

Now  let  us  turn  to  infidelity.  What  confirmation 
has  resulted  from  the  death-beds  of  infidels,  to  the 
truth  of  their  faith,  and  its  ability  to  support  and 
comfort  the  souls  of  its  dying  disciples?  Ah,  the 
change  is  Uke  being  translated  from  the  beauty  and 
fragrance  and  joyful  promise  of  spring,  into  the  cold-' 
ness  and  barrenness  and  gloominess  of  winter. 

Has  infidelity  ever  exhibited  a  solitary  example 
of  that  high  and  delightful  consolation,  that  trium- 
phant, unspeakable  joy  on  the  brink  of  the  grave,  of 
which  Christianity  can  cite  innumerable  instances? 
It  seems  almost  ridiculous  to  be  at  pains  enough  to 
answer  such  a  question.  Infidelity  has  no  doctrine, 
no  promise,  out  of  which  such  a  delightful  frame  of 
mind  could  grow.  Infidels  feel  themselves  so  infinitely 
removed  from  it,  that  it  seems  to  them,  in  the  dis- 
tance, as  something  incomprehensible,  or  visionary,  or 
fanatical.  But  are  there  not  examples  of  such  per- 
sons dying  without  fear  ?  Unquestionably  there  are  ; 
but  how  few  of  them  have  any  application  to  the 

appeared  at  this  a'W'ful  hour  to  impart  to  their  own  breasts. 
The  dignified  deportment  of  two  young  ladies  in  particular 
formed  a  specimen  of  natural  strength  of  mind,  finely  modified 
by  Christian  feeling,  that  failed  not  to  attract  the  notice  and 
admiration  of  every  one  who  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing 
it.  One  young  gentleman  having  calmly  asked  my  opinion  of 
the  state  of  the  ship,  I  told  him  that  I  thought  we  should  be  pre- 
pared to  sleep  that  night  in  eternity;  and  I  shall  never  forget 
the  peculiar  fervor  with  which  he  replied,  as  he  pressed  my  hand 
in  his,  ^  My  heart  is  filled  with  the  peace  of  God.^ ''  Comment 
would  only  mar  such  a  beautiful  testimony  to  the  blessedness 
of  a  gospel  faith.  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace 
whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee ;  because  he  trusteth  in  thee." 
Isa.  26 : 3. 


446  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

present  argument.  The  great  majority  of  them  have 
been  cases  in  which  the  lethargy  or  delirium  occa- 
sioned by  disease  prevented  the  patient  from  being 
sensible  of  his  condition ;  or  his  death  succeeded  so 
immediately  after  the  symptoms  of  his  danger,  as  to 
allow  no  time  for  the  consideration  of  his  eternal 
interests ;  or  his  friends  took  care  that  he  should  be 
kept  in  ignorance  of  the  fatal  character  of  his  dis- 
order until  it  was  too  late  for  any  thing  but  insensi- 
bility and  dissolution ;  or  else  the  unhappy  infidel, 
suspicious  of  his  steadfastness  when  the  trial  should 
arrive,  surrounded  himself  with  such  companions  as 
would  guard  his  bedside  from  the  approach  of  any 
minister  of  better  consolations,  and  keep  his  mind 
amused  with  trifles  and  his  pride  stimulated  with  the 
ambition  of  holding  out  to  the  last.  Undoubtedly 
there  have  been  cases  to  which  none  of  these  specifi- 
cations are  applicable — cases  of  infidels  who,  in  quiet- 
ness, with  their  intellects  in  sound  and  wakeful 
exercise,  and  with  a  knowledge  of  their  nearness  to 
eternity,  have  died  without  the  manifestation  of 
alarm.  But  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  our  point. 
We  could  speak  of  multitudes  who  believed  Chris- 
tianity, and  had  no  idea  that  they  were  prepared  to 
meet  their  God,  but  nevertheless  died  without  alarm. 
The  question  is,  does  infidelity  sustain  and  comfort 
its  disciples  in  the  hour  of  death  ?  It  can  hardly  be 
necessary  to  assert,  that  whatever  calmness  any  of 
them  may  have  manifested,  had  no  manner  of  con- 
nection with  their  infidel  principles.  They  might 
have  had  the  same  as  well  without  infidelity  as  with 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  447 

it.  They  did  not  pretend  to  draw  strength  and  peaco 
from  its  barren  breasts.  "What  was  called  in  their 
case  resignation^  was  not  the  offspring  of  their  prin- 
ciples as  infidels,  but  of  their  doom  as  mortals.  They 
had  to  die,  and  there  was  no  use  in  complaining; 
this  is  about  the  amount  of  all  their  consolation. 
Most  gladly  would  they  have  entreated  to  live,  could 
they  have  supposed  that  entreaty  would  have  suc- 
ceeded. Death  has  never  been  regarded  by  such 
men,  except  as  a  necessary  evil  in  every  respect, 
only  to  be  submitted  to  because  irrevocably  appointed. 
Such  is  the  very  best  account  we  can  give  of  the  tes- 
timony of  the  death-beds  of  infidels.  It  is  dreary, 
desolate,  cold.  It  whispers  something  that  should 
go  to  the  heart  of  a  sceptic.  Its  dismal  negativeness 
is  positive  condemnation.  Where,  in  all  this  region  of 
emptiness,  is  the  sweet  serenity,  the  cheerful  resigna- 
tion, the  positive  pleasure  and  happiness  in  prospect  of 
death,  which  so  generally  attend  the  dying  Christian  ? 
Where  is  your  parallel  in  a  single  infidel,  to  the  joy- 
ful welcome  which  death  has  received  in  a  million 
cases  at  the  lips  of  the  followers  of  Christ,  when  they 
have  felt  themselves  almost  at  home,  and  in  view  of 
heaven  have  longed  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ  ? 

No  case  of  a  dying  unbeliever  has  been  made  so 
much  of,  by  way  of  a  set-off  to  the  testimony  of 
Christians,  as  that  of  David  Hume.  The  evident 
object  of  Adam  Smith,  the  narrator,  is  to  put  up  his 
friend  for  a  comparison  with  believers.  G  ibbon  says, 
*•'  He  died  the  death  of  a  philosopher."  Nothing  can 
be  more  affected,  more  evidently  contrived  for  stage 


448  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

effect,  or,  even  on  infidel  principles,  more  disgraceful 
to  such  a  mind  as  Hume's,  than  the- manner  of  his 
death  according  to  the  account  given  by  his  friend. 
He  knew  his  end  was  near.  Whether  he  was  to  be 
annihilated,  or  to  be  for  ever  happy  or  for  ever  miser- 
able, was  a  question  involved  on  his  own  principles 
in  impenetrable  darkness.  It  was  the  tremendous 
question  to  be  then  decided.  Reason  and  decency 
demanded  that  it  should  be  seriously  contemplated. 
How  does  he  await  the  approach  of  eternity  ?  Said 
Chesterfield,  an  infidel  also,  **When  one  does  see 
death  near,  let  the  best  or  the  worst  people  say  what 
they  please,  it  is  a  serious  consideration."  Does 
Hume  treat  it  as  a  serious  consideration?  He  is 
diverting  himself.  With  what  ?  With  preparing  his 
essay  in  defence  of  suicide  for  a  new  edition,  reading 
books  of  amusement,  and  sometimes  with  a  game  at 
cards.  He  is  diverting  himself  again.  With  what 
next  ?  With  talking  silly  stuff  about  Charon  and  his 
boat  and  the  river  Styx.  Such  are  a  philosopher's 
diversions,  where  common-sense  teaches  other  people 
to  be  at  least  grave  and  thoughtful.  But  why  divert 
himself?  Why  turn  off  his  mind  from  death  ?  What 
the  need  of  his  writings  and  his  cards,  and  his  books 
of  amusement,  and  his  trifling  conversation  ?  Was  he 
afraid  to  let  his  mind  settle  down  quietly  and  alone 
to  the  contemplation  of  all  that  was  at  stake  in  the 
crisis  before  him  ?  Whatever  the  explanation  of  his 
levity,  it  was  ill-timed,  out  of  taste,  badly  got  up ; 
an  affected  piece  of  over-acting,  intended  for  posthu- 
mous fame,  to  say  the  best  of  it.     He  died  ^^as  a  foo 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  449 

dieth."  Take  his  own  views,  as  thus  expressed  at 
the  end  of  his  Natural  History  of  Religion :  "  The 
comfortable  views  exhibited  by  the  belief  of  futurity 
are  ravishing  and  delightful.  But  how  quickly  they 
vanish  on  the  appearance  of  its  terrors,  which  keep  a 
more  firm  and  durable  possession  of  the  human  mind. 
The  whole  is  a  riddle,  an  enigma,  an  inexplicable 
mystery.  Doubt,  uncertainty,  suspense  of  judgment, 
appear  the  only  result  of  our  most  accurate  scrutiny 
concerning  this  subject."  In  his  own  estimation, 
then,  futurity  has  its  terrors.  Doubt,  inexplicable 
mystery,  hung  over  his  future  destiny.  Whether  he 
was  not  to  be  a  child  of  hell  for  ever,  his  most  accu- 
rate scrutiny  could  only  suspend  his  judgment.  In 
this  tremendous  suspense  he  plays  cards,  as  it  were, 
on  his  coffin-lid ;  jests  about  ridiculous  fables  as  he 
steps  down  to  the  momentous  uncertainties,  but  eter- 
nal realities,  of  the  future.  If  a  finger  had  been  about 
to  receive  its  sentence  whether  to  be  amputated  or  not, 
he  would  at  the  least  have  been  more  grave.  How 
far  such  a  death-bed  scene  is  honorable  to  philosophy 
or  infidelity,  or  fit  to  be  compared  with  that  of  mill- 
ions of  Christians,  I  need  not  say.  But  this  is  tlie 
fairest  aspect  of  the  matter  on  the  side  of  infidelity.* 

*  There  is  reason  to  believe,  that  however  unconcerned 
Hume  may  have  seemed  in  the  presence  of  his  infidel  friends, 
there  were  times  when,  being  diverted  neither  by  companions, 
nor  cards,  nor  his  works,  nor  books  of  amusement,  but  left  to 
himself,  and  the  contemplation  of  eternity,  he  was  any  thing 
but  composed  and  satisfied. 

The  following  account  was  published  many  years  ago  in 
Edinburgh,  where  he  died.  It  is  not  known  to  have  been  ever 
contradicted.     ''  About  the  end  of  1776,  a  few  months  after  the 


450  ll'lLVAINES  EVIDENCES. 

We  said,  the  case  could  not  be  mentioned  of  any 
one  having  regretted,  on  his  death-bed,  that  he  had 
lived  a  Christian.  We  now  say,  that  cases  innumer- 
able have  occurred   of  persons  bitterly  lamenting, 

historian^s  death,  a  respectable  looking  woman,  dressed  in  black, 
came  into  the  Haddington  stage-coach,  while  passiAg  through 
Edinburgh.  The  conversation  among  the  passengers,  which 
had  been  interrupted  for  a  few  minutes,  was  speedily  resumed, 
which  the  lady  soon  found  to  be  regarding  the  state  of  mind 
persons  were  in  at  the  prospect  of  death.  An  appeal  was  made, 
in  defence  of  infidelity,  to  the  death  of  Hume,  as  not  only 
happy  and  tranquil,  but  mingled  even  with  gayety  and  humor. 
To  this  the  lady  said,  ^  Sir,  this  is  all  you  know  about  it ',  I 
could  tell  you  another  talc.'  '  Madam,'  replied  the  gentleman, 
'  I  presume  I  have  as  good  information  as  you  can  have  on  this 
subject,  and  I  belieye  that  what  I  have  asserted  regarding  Mr. 
Hame  has  never  been  called  in  question.'  The  lady  continued, 
*  Sir,  I  was  Mr.  Hume's  housekeeper  for  many  years,  and  was 
with  him  in  his  last  moments;  and  the  mourning  I  now  wear 
was  a  present  from  his  relatives  for  my  attention  to  him  on  his 
death-bed ;  and  happy  would  I  have  been  if  I  could  have  borne 
my  testimony  to  the  mistaken  opinion  that  has  gone  abroad  of 
his  peaceful  and  composed  end.  I  have,  sir,  never  till  this  hour 
opened  my  mouth  on  this  subject,  but  I  think  it  a  pity  the  world 
should  be  kept  in  the  dark  on  so  interesting  a  topic.  It  is  true, 
sir,  that  when  Mr.  Hume's  friends  were  with  him  he  was  cheer- 
ful, and  seemed  quite  unconcerned  about  his  approaching  fate; 
nay,  frequently  spoke  of  it  to  them  in  a  jocular  and  playful 
way ;  but  when  he  was  alone,  the  scene  was  very  different :  he 
was  any  thing  but  composed ;  his  mental  agitation  was  so  great 
at  times  as  to  occasion  his  whole  bed  to  shake.  He  would  not 
allow  the  candles  to  be  put  out  during  the  night,  nor  would  he 
be  left  alone  for  a  minute.  I  had  always  to  ring  the  bell  for 
one  of  the  servants  to  be  in  the  room,  before  he  would  allow  me  to 
leave  it.  He  struggled  hatrd  to  appear  composed,  even  before  me. 
But  to  one  who  attended  his  bedside  for  so  many  days  and  nights, 
and  witnessed  his  disturbed  sleeps  and  still  more  disturbed  wak- 
ings— ^who  frequently  heard  his  involuntary  breathings  of  re- 
morse and  frightful  startings,  it  was  no  difficult  matter  to  deter- 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY-.  451 

when  dying,  that  they  had  lived  in  infidelity.  Every- 
where such  instances  have  occurred.  They  are  tco 
notorious  to  need  citation.  The  boldest  unbelievers 
have  furnished  the  most  numerous  examples.  They 
have  felt  every  foundation  removed  when  heart  and 
flesh  began  to  fail.  What  they  had  boasted  in  life, 
they  found  a  miserable  comforter  in  death.  The 
Earl  of  Rochester,  a  scholar  and  a  blasphemer,  as 

mine  that  all  was  not  right  within.  This  continued  and  increased 
until  he  became  insensible.  I  hope  in  God  I  shall  never  witness 
a  similar  scene.'  ''"*     Christian  Observer,  vol.  31,  p.  665. 

There  is  internal  evidence  of  truth  attached  to  the  above. 
Hume  had  no  opinions  with  regard  to  God,  or  the  future,  except 
that  all  was  doubtful.  Whether  there  was  a  God,  a  future 
state,  a  hell,  or  annihilation,  he  did  not  profess  to  know.  The 
future  had  its  terrors,  he  acknowledged.  To  him  they  were 
terrors  of  darkness  and  uncertainty.  He  spoke  of  "the  calm, 
though  obscure  regions  of  philosophy."  He  called  the  whole 
question  as  to  man's  future  destiny,  ^*  a  riddlcj  an  enigma^  an 
inexplicable  mystery J^  All  he  could  arrive  at  was,  "  doubt,  vn- 
certainty,  suspense  of  judgment  P  In  this  state  of  mind,  nothing 
could  have  been  more  forced  or  unnatural  than  the  levity  de- 
scribed by  Smith.  That  was  his  stage-dress.  If  a  man  lay  a 
hundred  pounds  upon  a  game,  he  is  anxious  till  the  uncertainty 
as  to  its  fate  be  removed.  But  Hume  knew  that  his  all,  for 
EVER,  was  at  stake,  and  that  he  was  unconcerned,  unanxious, 
when  not  diverted^  is  incredible.  On  the  other  hand,  the  account 
presented  above  is  exactly  what  nature  and  reason  would  expect 
from  the  state  of  mind  in  which  the  philosopher  described  him- 
self, as  to  all  that  awaited  him.  Not  to  be  penetrated  with 
anxiety  of  the  most  painful  kind,  when  a  few  hours  were  to 
decide  whether  he  was  to  be  annihilated,  or  to  be  carried  to  the 
judgment-seat  of  God,  and  find  all  that  he  had  ridiculed  in  the 
gospel  true,  and  be  condemned  to  eternal  misery — a  destiny 
which,  on  his  own  principles,  was  as  likely  as  any  thing  else — 
could  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  that  disease,  or 
friends^  diverted  his  attention  from  the  decision  approaching. 


462  M'lLVAINES  EVIDENCES. 

deep  in  vice  as  in  infidelity,  when  he  approached  the 
end  of  life,  became  a  thorough  penitent,  and  to  one 
of  his  former  companions  said,  from  his  death-bed, 
'*  0  remember,  that  you  contemn  God  no  longer.  He 
is  an  avenging  God,  and  will  visit  you  for  your  sins ; 
and  will,  I  hope,  in  mercy  touch  your  conscience, 
sooner  or  later,  as  he  has  done  mine.  You  and  I  have 
been  friends  and  sinners  together  a  great  while.  We 
have  been  all  mistaken  in  our  conceits  and  opinions ; 
our  persuasions  have  been  false  and  groundless ;  there- 
fore I  pray  God  grant  you  repentance."  To  those 
who  had  been  drawn  into  sin  by  his  example  and 
encouragement,  he  said,  "  I  warn  them  no  more  to 
make  a  mock  of  sin,  or  contemn  the  pure  and  excel- 
lent religion  of  my  ever  blessed  Redeemer,  through 
whose  merits  alone,  I,  one  of  the  greatest  of  sinners, 
do  yet  hope  for  mercy  and  forgiveness." 

Hobbes  could  never  bear  to  talk  of  death.  His 
mind  was  haunted  with  tormenting  reflections.  If 
liis  candle  went  out  in  the  night,  while  he  was  in  bed, 
lie  was  in  misery.  As  he  descended  to  the  grave,  ho 
said,  "  he  was  about  to  take  a  leap  in  the  dark." 

Struenzee,  prime  minister  of  Denmark,  and  Brandt 
the  companion  of  his  disgrace  and  imprisonment,  had 
both  been  poisoned  by  the  writings  and  society  of 
Voltaire;  and  both,  in  prospect  of  death,  renounced 
infidelity  with  detestation,  and  embraced  the  gospel 
as  all  their  hope. 

Shall  I  lead  you  to  the  horrible  spectacle  of  Vol- 
taire in  the  arms  of  death,  and  expecting  in  a  few 
moments  to  stand  at  the  bar  of  God.     He  has  just 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  453 

returned  from  a  feast  of  applause  in  the  theatre,  to  be 
laid  on  a  bed  of  death  in  the  agonies  of  an  upbraiding 
conscience.  The  physician  enters.  "  Doctor,"  said 
the  apostle  of  infidelity,  with  the  utmost  consterna- 
tion, '*  I  am  abandoned  by  Grod  and  man.  I  will 
give  you  half  of  what  I  am  worth,  if  you  will  give 
me  six  months'  life."  The  physician  told  him  he 
could  not  live  six  weeks.  **  Then,"  said  he,  **  I  shall 
go  to  hell."  His  companions  in  guilt,  D'Alembert, 
Diderot,  and  Marmontel,  hasten  to  keep  up  his  cour- 
age, but  meet  nothing  but  reproach  and  horror.  In 
spite  of  the  guard  of  infidels  about  him,  he  sends  for 
the  Abbe  Gautier  to  come  as  soon  as  possible.  In 
his  presence  and  that  of  other  witnesses,  he  signs  a 
recantation  of  infidelity,  and  professes  to  die  in  the 
church.  It  is  sent  to  the  rector  of  St.  Sulpice  and 
the  archbishop  of  Paris  for  approval.  The  Abbe 
Grautier  returns  with  it,  but  cannot  enter.  Every 
ayenue  to  the  dying  infidel  is  defended  by  those  who 
had  shared  in  his  conspiracy  against  Christianity. 
They  want  to  hide  his  terrors  and  their  own  shame. 
Now  it  is  that  D'Alembert,  Diderot,  and  about  twenty 
others  of  like  character  who  beset  his  apartment, 
never  approach  him  but  to  hear  their  condemnation. 
"Retire!"  he  often  exclaims  with  execrations ;  **it  is 
you  that 'have  brought  me  to  my  present  state.  Be- 
gone! I  could  have  done  without  you  all,  but  you 
could  not  exist  without  me.  And  what  a  wretched 
glory  have  you  produced  me !"  Then  his  conspiracy 
comes  before  him,  and  alternately  supplicating  and 
blaspheming,  he  complains  that  he  is  abandoned  by 


454  IC'ILYAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

God  and  man,  and  often  cries  out,  **0  Christ!  0  Je- 
sus Christ !"  He  is  looking  on  Him  whom  he  pierced. 
He  is  drinking  the  cup  of  trembling,  the  foretaste  of 
the  second  death.  The  Mareschal  de  Richelieu  flies 
from  the  scene,  declaring  it  "  too  terrible  to  be  sus- 
tained." The  physicians,  thunderstruck,  retire,  de- 
claring **  the  death  of  the  impious  man  to  be  terrible 
indeed."  One  of  them  pronounces  that  "the  furies 
of  Orestes  could  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  those  of 
Voltaire."* 

We  shall  close  these  awful  scenes  with  a  few 
glances  at  the  dying  Paine.  Once  it  was  his  boast, 
that  during  a  dangerous  illness  he  thought  with  new 
satisfaction  of  having  written  the  Age  of  Reason,  and 
found  by  experiment  that  his  principles  were  suffi- 
cient to  sustain  him  in  expectation  of  death.  It  was 
an  empty  boast.  Let  us  see  him  when  really  dying. 
He  would  not  be  left  alone  night  or  day.  If  he 
could  not  see  that  some  one  was  with  him,  he  would 
scream  till  a  person  appeared.  A  female  attendant 
more  than  once  found  him  in  the  attitude  of  prayer. 
Having  asked  her  what  she  thought  of  his  Age  of 

•  "  The  nurse  who  attended  him  being,  many  years  after- 
wards, requested  to  wait  on  a  siek  Protestant  gentleman,  refused 
till  she  was  assured  he  was  not  a  philosopher ;  declaring,  if  he 
were,  she  would  on  no  account  incur  the  danger  of  witnessing 
such  a  scene  as  she  had  been  compelled  to  do  at  the  death  of 
M.  Voltaire.  I  received  this  account,"  adds  the  Right  Rev. 
Daniel  Wilson,  "  from  the  son  of  the  gentleman  to  whose  dying- 
bed  the  woman  was  invited,  by  a  letter  now  in  my  possession.' 

The  above  account  is  abridged  from  the  "  History  of  Jaco- 
binism," by  the  Abbe  Barucl,  and  has  been  denied  by  no  one  of 
the  many  witnesses  to  the  death  of  Voltaire. 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  455 

Reason,  and  being  answered,  that  from  a  conviction 
of  its  evil  tendency  she  had  burnt  it,  he  wished  all 
its  readers  had  been  as  wise,  and  added,  *^If  ever  the 
devil  had  an  agent  on  earth,  I  have  been  one."  An 
infidel  visitor  said  to  him,  "You  have  lived  like  a 
man,  I  hope  you  will  die  like  one."  He  turned  to 
others  in  the  room  and  said,  *' You  see  what  miser-' 
able  comforters  I  have."  The  woman  whom  he  had 
enticed  from  her  husband,  lamented  to  a  neighbor  her 
sad  condition.  '*  For  this  man,"  she  said,  *'  I  have 
given  up  my  family  and  friends,  my  property  and  my 
religion ;  judge  then  of  my  distress,  when  he  tells  mo 
that  the  principles  he  has  taught  me  will  not  bear 
me  out."  Well  might  she  be  distressed  when  she 
heard  his  exclamations.  *'  He  would  call  out,  during 
his  paroxysms  of  distress,  without  intermission,  '  0 
Lord,  help  me ;  God  help  me ;  Jesus  Christ  help  me ;  O 
Lord,  help  me;'  repeating  the  same  expressions  with- 
out any  the  least  variation,  in  a  tone  of  voice  that 
would  alarm  the  house."* 

And  now,  what  need  be  said  in  conclusion  ?  You 
have  seen  the  fruit  of  the  trees.  One  produces  cor- 
ruption, the  other  holiness  of  life.  One  roots  up,  the 
other  nourishes  and  cherishes  whatever  is  good  around 
it.  The  spread  of  infidelity  is  that  of  vice  and  dis- 
order and  all  confusion.  The  spread  of  Christianity 
is  that  of  purity,  peace,  and  all  the  virtues  of  the 
social  state.  The  more  thoroughly  an  individual 
embraces  infidelity,  the  more  entirely  does  he  become 
the  slave  of  sin. .  The  more  perfectly  he  embraces 
*  Cheetham's  Life  of  Paine. 


456  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  gospel,  the  more  perfectly  does  he  become  the 
example  of  whatever  is  lovely  and  of  good  report. 
No  infidel  ever  rose  higher  than  the  chili  composure 
of  a  Stoic's  firmness,  in  the  trial  of  death.  Multitudes 
and  the  chief  of  infidels  have,  in  that  honest  hour, 
abandoned  their  sentiments  with  horror.  On  tho 
(jther  hand,  no  Christian  ever  regretted,  when  dying, 
that  he  had  believed  the  gospel;  all  have  only  wished 
they  had  followed  it  more  diligently;  and  in  cases 
innumerable,  disciples  of  Christ  have  risen  to  the 
most  triumphant  emotions  of  joy  and  praise,  and  the 
most  exulting  assurance  of  eternal  life  and  glory,  in 
the  very  act  of  departing  for  eternity. 

Is  a  tree  known  by  its  fruits?  Then  which  of 
these  is  the  tree  of  life?  Which  looks  like  truth? 
Which  is  to  be  cut  down,  and  cast  into  the  everlast- 
ing burning? 

The  whole  argument  of  this  and  the  preceding 
lecture  may  be  well  concluded  with  an  applicable  and 
true  saying  of  Hume.  Being  asked  by  a  friend,  to 
whom  he  used  to  refer  his  essays  previously  to  publi- 
cation, whether  he  thought  that  if  his  opinions  were 
imiversally  prevalent,  mankind  would  not  be  rendered 
more  unhappy  than  they  were;  and  whether  he  did 
not  suppose  that  the  curb  of  religion  was  necessary 
to  human  nature :  '*  The  objections,''  answered  he, 
'^are  not  without  weight,  but  error  never  can  pro- 
duce GOOD."  Such  is  precisely  the  text  of  this  and 
the  preceding  lecture.  **Do  men  gather  grapes  of 
thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles?"  *'  The  tree  is  known  by 
its  fruits,"  said  the  Saviour.     **  Error  never  can  pro- 


FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  4,'ii7 

duce  good,"  said  the  man  who  denied  him.  By  this 
let  the  comparative  merits  of  Christianity  and  infidel- 
ity stand  or  fall. 

How  imperative,  then,  is  the  exhortation  to  all  pro- 
fessors of  the  religion  of  Jesus,  **  Let  your  light  shine 
before  men."  **Be  careful  to  maintain  good  works." 
"Let  your  conversation  be  as  it  becometh  the  gospel 
of  Christ."  To  you  is  committed  the  honor  of  Christian- 
ity among  the  unbelieving  and  disobedient.  Its  most 
legible  and  universally  imposing  evidences  are  found 
in  the  living  epistles  of  those  who,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  its  saving  truth,  are  seen  devotedly  "follow- 
ing after  righteousness,  godliness,  faith,  love,  patience, 
meekness ;"  "  using  the  world  as  not  abusing  it ;"  look- 
ing  for  death  as  not  fearing  it;  cheerful  in  all  duty 
while  they  remain  on  earth;  happy  when  the  time 
comes  for  them  to  depart  out  of  it  unto  the  Father. 
Ah,  if  all  that  are  numbered  among  Christians  were 
thus  radiant  in  the  beauty  of  holiness,  how  soon 
would  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with  the  praise  of  the 
Lord !  Then  indeed  would  the  church  put  on  strength. 
Then  would  the  Gentiles  come  to  her  light,  and  kings 
to  the  brightness  of  her  rising:  all  they  that  despise 
her  should  bow  themselves  down  at  the  soles  of  her 
feet ;  and  they  should  call  her,  "  The  city  of  the  Lord ; 
the  Zion  of  the  holy  One  of  Israel."* 
*  Isaiah,  ch.  60. 


20 


458  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 


LECTURE    XII. 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  ARGUMENT,  AND  APPLICATION  TO 
OBJECTIONS. 

In  the  course  of  the  preceding  lectures,  I  have 
been  enabled  by  a  kind  Providence  to  spread  before 
you  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  external  evidences 
of  Christianity.  Although  one  whole  .division  of  our 
forces,  and  one  of  no  secondary  consequence,  has  not 
been  brought  into  the  field,  and  of  that  which  has 
been  employed  several  important  subdivisions  have 
been  held  in  the  background  for  want  of  room  to 
display  them,  enough,  I  trust,  has  been  done  to  give 
you  an  impressive  idea  of  what  the  strength  of  the 
cause  must  be,  when  all  the  immense  variety  of 
auxiliaries  composing  its  host  are  arranged  together 
under  command  of  a  mind  capable  of  using  them  to 
the  best  advantage.  It  would  stand  like  the  massive 
squares  of  British  infantry  at  Waterloo,  to  which  the 
boasting  enemy  rode  up  again  and  again,  in  the  full 
confidence  of  sweeping  them  before  the  impetuosity 
of  their  charge.  But  ''their  onset  and  reception  was 
that  of  a  furious  ocean  pouring  itself  against  a  chain 
of  insulated  rocks."* 

Before  relinquishing  our  course,  it  is  important  to 
take  a  brief  retrospect  of  the  ground  we  have  been 
•  Scott^s  Napoleon. 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  459 

over,  that  we  may  gather  into  united  and  cooperating 
force  the  several  lines  of  argument  which  as  yet  have 
been  employed  only  in  their  separate  efficiency. 

After  having  divided  the  whole  field  of  evidence 
into  the  two  general  departments  of  external  and 
internal^  and  separated  the  former,  as  that  to  which 
our  course  would  be  confined,  we  proceeded  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  all  our  subsequent  reasonings  by  mak- 
ing good  the  AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  BOOKS  OF  THE   NeW 

Testament,  and  the  credibility  of  the  history  con- 
tained therein.  In  reference  to  the  question  of  authen- 
ticity, we  instituted  an  inquiry  whether  there  is  suf- 
ficient evidence  that  the  several  scriptures  composing 
the  New  Testament  were  written  by  the  men  whose 
names  they  bear,  the  original  apostles  and  disciples 
of  Christ.  For  an  answer  to  this,  we  pursued  pre- 
cisely the  same  method  as  in  determining  the  authen- 
ticity of  any  other  writings.  The  evidence  required 
in  such  investigations  was  shown  to  be  so  unaffected 
by  time,  that  whether  a  book  be  ascribed  to  the 
Christian  era,  or  to  five  centuries  earlier  or  later,  a 
similar  description  of  proof  would  possess  a  similar 
conclusiveness.  That  for  the  authenticity  of  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  was  presented  under  the 
following  heads:  They  are  quoted  or  alluded  to  by 
a  series  of  writers  extending  in  unbroken  succession 
from  the  present  to  the  apostolic  age.  In  the  earliest 
writers  of  this  series,  as  well  as  the  later,  they  are 
treated  with  peculiar  respect,  as  possessing  an  author- 
ity belonging  to  no  other  books,  and  as  conclusive  in 
all  questions  of  religion ;  they  were  collected  at  a  very 


460  MULVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

early  period  into  a  distinct  volume;  were  putlicly 
read  and  expounded  in  the  assemblies  of  the  primi- 
tive Christians ;  commentaries  were  written  upon 
them;  harmonies  were  formed  out  of  them;  different 
copies  were  carefully  compared,  and  versions  were 
made  into  different  languages,  in  the  first  centuries  of 
Christianity.  Hence,  it  appeared  that  the  agreement 
of  the  ancient  church,  as  to  what  were  the  authentic 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  was  complete,  and  was 
no  more  imperfect  among  the  various  sects  of  heretics 
than  among  the  orthodox  fathers.  None  of  these  sev- 
eral heads  of  evidenoe  attach  to  any  of  those  spurious 
writings  commonly  called  apocryphal  scriptures,  while 
the  marks  of  the  spuriousness  of  these  can  be  asserted 
with  regard  to  none  of  those  which  are  esteemed  as 
authentic.  In  confirmation  of  the  mass  of  testimony 
adduced  in  support  of  these  propositions,  we  exhibited 
a  most  important  collection  of  proofs  from  the  writ- 
ings of  the  early  adversaries  of  Christianity.  The 
style  and  language  of  the  New  Testament  were  spoken 
of,  as  in  perfect  agreement  with  the  local  and  other 
circumstances  of  its  reputed  writers;  as  in  perfect 
harmony  with  their  known  character,  and  with  the 
age  and  country  in  which  they  Uved;  and  such  as 
3ould  not  have  been  produced  in  any  age  subsequent 
to  theirs.  In  conclusion  of  the  whole  argument,  we 
endeavored  to  show  that  such  was  the  necessity  of 
detection  in  case  of  a  forgery,  during  the  primitive 
centuries,  that  had  the  books  in  question  been  deficient 
in  the  evidence  of  apostolic  origin,  nothing  less  than 
a  miracle  could  account  for  their  early  and  universal 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  46] 

currency.  The  whole  train  of  evidence  concluded 
with  this  result:  that  to  suppose  the  New  Testament 
unauthentic  or  even  questionable  in  this  particular, 
is  to  resign  the  authenticity  of  every  other  book  of  the 
least  antiquity;  yea,  and  to  deny  the  sufficiency  of 
human  testimony,  in  its  most  conclusive  form,  to 
establish  the  authenticity  of  any  such  work.  Having 
come  to  this,  it  seemed  no  presumption  to  proceed,  in 
our  subsequent  lectures,  as  if  the  question  of  authen* 
ticity  were  answered  in  the  affirmative  with  entire 
satisfaction. 

But  in  connection  with  the  apostolic  origin,  it 
was  important  to  look  into  the  integrity  of  the  New 
Testament  scriptures,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
to  what  extent  they  have  been  preserved  without 
mutilation  or  corruption.  That  they  have  undergone 
no  material  alteration  since  they  were  first  published, 
was  inferred  from  the  perfect  impossibility  of  such  a 
change ;  from  obvious  agreement  among  the  existing 
manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament;  and  from  the 
harmony  of  our  present  text  with  the  numerous  quo- 
tations  in  the  works  of  early  Christian  writers,  as 
well  as  with  those  ancient  translations  which  are  still 
extant. 

But  in  laying  the  foundation  of  our  subsequent 
argument,  another  question  remained:  Is  the  history 
contained  in  these  authentic  writings  credible?  In 
answer  to  this,  we  assumed  that  the  credibility  of  the 
gospel  history  is  to  be  ascertained  precisely  like  that 
of  any  other  history.  It  appeared  that,  in  questions 
of  this  kind,  the  two  great  points  to  be  proved  are, 


462  MULVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

a  competency  of  knowledge^  and  trustworthy  honesty^ 
on  the  part  of  the  historian:  Did  he  know  enough  to 
"Nvrite  a  true  account,  and  was  he  too  honest  to  write 
any  other  account  than  such  as  he  believed  to  be  true  ? 
These  points  established,  the  credibility  of  any  history 
is  settled.  The  first  was  easily  determined  by  the 
consideration  that  the  amount  of  knowledge  required 
Tor  the  writing  of  the  gospel  history  was  by  no  means 
great;  that  the  narrative  is  extremely  simple  and 
unambitious;  and  that  those  who  penned  it  were  per- 
sonal companions  of  Christ,  and  eye-witnesses  of  al- 
most all  they  related.  In  reference  to  the  second  point 
to  be  made  out,  we  took  the  position  that  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  the  writers  of  the  gospel  his- 
tory were  too  honest  to  relate  any  thing  but  what 
they  believed  to  be  truth.  Taking  the  history  as 
written  by  St.  John  for  a  specimen,  we  discovered  a 
strong  internal  evidence  of  the  honesty  of  the  writer 
in  the  fact,  that  it  is  in  a  high  degree  circumstantial ; 
and  another  in  the  incidental  characteristic  of  the 
writer,  that  he  takes  no  pains  to  convince  us  of  his 
honesty,  and  makes  no  parade  about  it  as  if  it  were 
possible  to  be  suspected ;  and  another  in  the  circum- 
stance, that  while  he  could  not  have  been  ignorant 
that  he  was  relating  many  extraordinary  and  wonder- 
ful events,  he  betrays  no  appearance  of  wonder  in 
himself,  nor  any  expectation  of  wonder  from  his  read- 
ers, thus  evincing  that  he  was  conscious  of  narrating 
events  of  universal  notoriety.  In  addition  to  these 
striking  imprints  of  honesty,  we  perceived  another  in 
the  minute  accuracy  which  distinguishes  all  the  allu- 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  463 

sioiis  of  this  narrative  to  the  manners,  customs,  opin- 
ions, political  events,  and  circumstances  of  the  times. 

Having  thus  exhibited  satisfactory  evidence  of 
the  honesty  of  one  of  the  writers  of  the  gospel  narra- 
tive, we  produced  seven  other  writers,  each  entirely 
independent  of  the  rest,  and  possessing  all  the  inter- 
nal marks  of  honesty  discovered  in  St.  John;  all  con- 
curring in  their  statements  so  entirely  that  no  con- 
tradiction can  be  detected,  and  yet  with  so  much 
incidental  variety,  that  the  suspicion  of  a  concerted 
scheme  for  mutual  support  is  as  unreasonable  as  if 
they  had  lived  in  different  centuries.  The  fact  that 
they  were  heartUy  interested  in  the  gospel — that  they 
so  firmly  believed  what  they  wrote,  as  to  have  lived 
in  zealous  devotion  to  Christ,  even  to  the  sacrifice  of 
life,  was  shown  to  be  the  strongest  confirmation,  in- 
stead of  the  least  abridgment,  of  their  united  testi- 
mony. In  their  cooperating  evidence,  we  have  a  proof 
of  the  honesty  of  each  writer,  and  of  the  credibility 
of  the  whole  body  of  facts  contained  in  their  pages, 
such  as  no  history  of  any  individual  of  the  world  can 
equal.  Such  a  thing  as  four  histories  of  any  ancient 
series  of  events^  written  by  persons  contemporaneous 
with  the  subject^  and  handed  down  to  us,  is  found 
only  in  the  case  before  us.  When  it  is  considered 
that  the  authors  were  not  only  contemporaries,  but 
companions  of  the  personage  whose  history  is  given, 
their  mutual  support  and  internal  evidences  of  hon- 
esty afford  a  body  of  proof  which,  were  their  narra- 
tives untrue,  would  be  morally  impossible. 

Here  we  might  have  left  the  question  of  credibil- 


464  K'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

ity.  But  we  proceeded  to  show,  that  to  suppose 
these  writers  to  have  published  what  they  did  not 
believe,  is  to  suppose  tliat  they  acted  not  only  with- 
out any  conceivable  motive,  but  in  direct  opposition 
to  all  the  motives  by  which  the  minds  oi  men  are 
ever  influenced.  And  finally,  it  was  made  to  appear 
that  the  gospel  history  has  in  its  support  not  only  all 
the  testimony  that  could  fairly  have  been  expected 
from  its  enemies — all  of  them  yielding  at  least  the 
evidence  of  silence^  when,  had  they  been  able,  they 
would  assuredly  have  published  a  denial — but  much 
stronger  testimony  than  could  fairly  have  been  ex- 
pected from  enemies,  since  several  of  their  most  hos- 
tile writers  positively  acknowledge  all  the  facts  that 
are  necessary  to  establish  the  divine  authority  of 
Jesus.  But  this  was  not  our  highest  reach  of  testi- 
mony. We  found  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses  to  the 
truth  of  this  history  in  the  multitudes  converted  to 
the  gospel  under  the  preaching  of  the  apostles — wit- 
nesses who  have  this  peculiar  excellence,  that  from 
having  once  been  enemies,  they  became  devoted 
friends  by  the  mere  force  of  their  conviction  of  the 
facts  in  question.  The  whole  argument  for  credibil- 
ity was  finished  by  showing,  from  the  very  nature 
and  circumstances  of  the  history,  that  had  it  not  been 
true,  its  currency  for  a  single  year  would  have  been 
quite  as  miraculous,  and  more  unaccountable,  than 
any  thing  related  therein. 

Having  thus  cleared  our  way  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, by  ascertaining  the  authenticity  of  its  books 
and  the  credibility  of  its  history,  we  were  prepared  to 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  465 

open  the  volume  and  investigate  its  contents.  It  pro- 
fesses to  contain  a  revelation  from  God,  communicated 
to  mankind  by  the  Lord  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  as 
invested  with  a  divine  commission  for  this  very  pur- 
pose. We  asked  for  their  credentials.  They  referred 
us  to  their  miraculous  works.  The  appeal  was  con- 
fessedly fair.  Miracles  perfectly  proved,  are  perfect 
evidence  of  divine  attestation.  But  before  proceeding 
to  a  direct  investigation  of  the  testimony  in  favor  of 
the  miracles  of  the  gospel,  we  found  it  necessary,  on 
account  of  the  desperate  efforts  which  enemies  of 
Christianity  have  made  to  escape  this  argument,  to 
illustrate  the  following  preliminary  truths :  that  there 
is  nothing  unreasonable  or  improbable  in  the  idea  of 
a  miracle  in  proof  of  divine  revelation ;  that  the  mir- 
acles wrought  for  this  purpose  in  the  first  century  can 
be  rendered  credible  to  us  of  the  nineteenth,  by  no 
other  evidence  than  that  of  testimony ;  that  such  evi- 
dence is  perfectly  sufficient  to  prove  a  miracle;  that 
the  testimony  to  the  gospel  miracles  has  suH'ered  no 
diminution  of  force  by  increase  of  age ;  and  that  we, 
who  are  restricted  to  such  means  of  conviction,  are 
situated,  in  regard  to  our  state  of  probation  and  moral 
discipline,  more  consistently  than  if  we  had  been 
present  when  the  miracles  were  wrought,  and  could 
have  proved  their  reality  by  the  test  of  our  senses. 

From  these  important  propositions,  we  proceeded 
to  the  testimony  in  regard  to  the  ^^RACLES  op  the 
GOSPEL.  Here  we  might  have  stood  upon  the  equita- 
ble assumption,  that  in  having  established  the  truth 
of  the  narratives,  we  had  proved  also  the  reality  of 
20* 


466  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  miracles  of  the  New  Testament;  inasmuch  as 
miraculous  events  are  so  essentially  interwoven  with 
many  of  them,  that  to  question  the  latter  is  necessarily 
an  impeachment  of  the  former.  But  as  our  object 
was  not  merely  proof,  but  variety  and  fulness  of  proof, 
we  proceeded  to  the  fact  that  the  religion  of  the  Bible, 
having  been  established  by  direct  appeal  to  miracle 
in  evidence  of  the  divine  authority  of  its  teachers, 
stands  alone  in  this  respect  among  the  various  relig- 
ions of  mankind;  after  which  wo  laid  out  the  mate- 
rials of  our  argument  under  the  following  propositions. 
Supposing  the  wonderful  works  ascribed  to  our  Lord 
to  have  really  occurred,  they  cannot  be  ascribed  to 
second  causes,  but  must  have  been  genuine  miracles. 
They  were  of  such  a  nature  as  admitted  of  their  being 
brought  at  once  to  the  test  of  the  senses.  They  were 
performed,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  most  public  man- 
ner. They  were  exceedingly  numerous,  and  of  great 
variety.  The  success  in  every  case  was  instanta- 
neous and  complete.  There  is  no  evidence  of  such  a 
thing  as  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  Christ  or  his  apos- 
tles to  perform  a  miracle  in  which  they  were  accused 
of  a  failure.  For  seventy  years,  the  miraculous  gifts 
in  question  continued  to  be  exercised,  and  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  inspection  of  mankind.  During  all  this 
time,  it  is  a  matter  of  certainty  that  they  underwent 
the  most  rigid  examination  from  those  who  had  every 
opportunity  and  every  disposition  to  detect  imposition. 
Every  advantage  was  afforded  the  adversary  by  their 
being  published  and  appealed  to  immediately  after, 
and  in  the  very  places  where  they  occurred.     The 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  467 

persons  who  performed  them  were  of  all  men  the 
least  qualified  and  the  least  likely  either  to  attempt  a 
series  of  counterfeit  miracles,  or  to  succeed  in  passing 
them  upon  the  Jewish  and  heathen  world.  Notwith- 
standing all  that  was  done  to  break  the  constancy  and 
extort  the  confessions  of  those  early  Christians  who 
were  eye-witnesses  of  the  deeds  of  Jesus  and  his  apos- 
tles, none  were  ever  known  to  acknowledge  they  had 
been  deceived,  or  had  found  any  thing  but  truth  in 
the  miracles  by  which  they  were  led  to  embrace  the 
gospel.  The  benevolent  character  and  holy  effects  of 
the  miracles,  the  humble,  self-denying,  unambitious 
spirit  of  those  who  performed  them,  are  irreconcilable 
with  the  supposition  of  any  thing  selfish  or  deceitful. 
That  they  were  genuine,  and  to  the  people  of  that 
century  undeniable,  we  have  the  plainest  and  strong- 
est confession  from  the  primitive  adversaries  of  Christ 
and  his  cause.  But  confessions  unspeakably  stronger 
are  found  in  the  history  of  great  multitudes  in  Judea 
and  every  country  of  heathenism,  who  beheld  in  the 
miracles  such  incontrovertible  certainty  as  induced 
them  to  lay  aside  the  bitterest  enmity  to  the  gospel, 
and  make  the  most  painful  sacrifices  of  which  human 
nature  is  capable,  for  the  sake  of  embracing  the  ser- 
vice of  Jesus.  If  with  all  this  evidence  there  is  not 
reason  to  rely  implicitly  upon  the  reality  of  the  gos- 
pel miracles,  we  are  driven  to  believe  in  the  most 
unaccountable  violations  of  the  laws  of  nature,  of 
truth,  and  of  common-sense,  as  necessary  to  account 
for  the  singular  events  connected  with  their  perform- 
ance, and  for  their  universal  acknowledgment  in  the 


468  XULYAINK'S  EVIDENCES. 

era  of  their  first  publication.  Hence,  it  was  concluded 
that  the  credentials  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles  were 
given  from  heaven;  and  consequently,  that  the  New 
Testament,  as  an  authentic  record  of  what  they  de- 
livered, is  the  book  of  the  revelation  of  God. 

Here,  with  perfect  safety,  might  the  cause  have 
been  considered  as  determined.  But  unwilling  to 
content  ourselves  with  once  establishing  the  divine 
authority  of  the  gospel,  the  argument  was  commenced 
anew,  substituting  prophecy  for  miracle  as  the  source 
of  evidence.  Considerations  were  stated  which  ren« 
der  the  argument  from  prophecy  specially  valuable; 
such  as  the  continual  increase  of  its  strength,  and  the 
important  characteristic  of  many  predictions,  that 
their  fulfilment,  being  a  matter  of  present  existence, 
is  evidence  before  our  eyes,  addressed  to  our  senses. 
Before  proceeding  to  the  proof  of  fulfilment,  the  fact 
that  all  other  religions  but  that  of  the  Bible  have 
shrunk  from  such  dangerous  ground  as  the  publica- 
tion of  prophecy  in  the  establishment  of  their  preten- 
sions, and  yet,  that  however  certain  of  exposure  in 
case  of  imposition,  prophecy  is  everywhere  appealed 
to  and  rested  upon  in  the  Bible,  was  treated  as  a 
strong  presumptive  argument  that  in  the  Bible  is 
found  what  no  false  religion  can  possess — something 
to  warrant  it  in  venturing  where  divine  omniscience 
alone  is  able  to  tread — inspiration  of  God.  We 
then  glanced  at  the  immense  extent  and  vast  embrace 
and  wonderful  minuteness  which  characterize  the 
scheme  of  scripture  prophecy,  the  many  ages  in- 
cluded, the  variety  of  agents  employed,  the  numerous 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  469 

particulars  predicted,  and  the  harmony  of  all  the 
details.  The  undeniable  fact  was  asserted,  that  be- 
tween  the  least  prediction  of  the  Bible  and  any  event 
of  history,  there  is  not  the  smallest  evidence  of  con- 
tradiction. We  then  demanded  whether  it  were 
credible  that  imposture  would  ever  have  dared  io 
commit  its  cause  to  a  venture  which  could  terminate 
successfully  only  by  such  a  hopeless  series  of  miracu- 
lous  coincidences. 

With  all  this  presumptive  evidence  on  our  side, 
we  took  up  a  brief  selection  of  important  prophecies, 
and  showed  their  minute  and  wonderful  fulfilment 
from  sources  of  testimony  to  which  there  could  be  no 
exception.  Your  attention  was  specially  directed  to 
a  great  variety  of  predictions,  by  dift'erent  writers  and 
in  all  ages  of  Bible  history,  all  centring  in  Jesus, 
and  determining  the  time  and  circumstances  of  his 
advent,  the  character  of  his  hfe,  the  particulars  of 
his  sufferings  and  death;  foretelling  his  resurrection, 
and  the  increase  of  his  kingdom.  After  having  thus 
showed  the  fulfilment  of  prophecies  of  which  Jesus 
was  the  subject,  we  proceeded  to  others  of  which  Jesus 
was  the  author. 

In  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  its  subse- 
quent history,  we  had,  prepared  to  our  hands  by  the 
writings  of  unbelievers,  a  most  impressive  accom- 
plishment of  a  series  of  predictions  on  the  part  of  our 
Lord,  in  which  the  utmost  plainness  of  meaning  is 
united  with  singular  minuteness  of  detail.  The 
agreement  between  the  predictions  and  the  events 
admitted  of  no  denial.     The  supposition  of  chance 


470  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

was  the  only  explanation  to  which  unbelief  could 
flee.  But  it  was  stated,  on  the  authority  of  strict 
arithmetical  calculation,  that  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples employed  in  the  computation  of  what  are  called 
chances,  the  probability  against  the  occurrence,  at  the 
predicted  time,  of  all  the  particulars  embraced  in  the 
prophecies  of  which  we  had  spoken,  exceeded  the 
power  of  numbers  to  express,  even  without  the  con- 
sideration of  the  providence  of  One  who  hateth  ini- 
quity, and  especially  when  it  is  practised  under  pre- 
tence of  his  authority.  The  conclusion  was  inevi- 
table, that  the  Bible,  in  thus  containing  so  many 
genuine  prophecies  scattered  through  its  several  books, 
contains  a  revelation  from  God,  and  exhibits  satis- 
factory evidences  of  divine  authority ;  and  that  Jesus 
Christ,  being  in  his  character  and  office  as  the  Sav- 
iour of  sinners,  the  great  theme  of  this  system  of 
prophecy,  and  being  himself  endued  with  the  spirit  of 
prophecy,  was,  and  is  to  come,  no  other  than'  what 
he  claimed  to  be  considered,  the  Son  of  God,  the 
Redeemer  of  men.  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords. 

Here,  again,  we  might  have  rested  our  cause.  But 
unwilling  to  withhold  the  interesting  evidence  re- 
maining, we  commenced  the  main  question  anew, 
and  set  out  to  prove  the  divine  origin  from  the  his- 
tory of  THE  PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTfANITY.  The  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  its  extensive  progress  were  man- 
ifest from  considering  that  the  enterprise  of  propagat- 
ing a  new  religion,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other, 
was  perfectly  novel,  and  universally  offensive;  that 
the  whole  character  of  the  gospel,  as  a  system  of  doc- 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  471 

trine  and  a  rule  of  life,  erected  a  barrier  against  its 
progress,  which  to  human  force  would  have  proved 
insurmountable;  that  it  necessarily  arrayed  against 
itself  all  the  influence  of  every  priesthood,  all  the 
powers  of  every  government,  all  the  prejudices,  hab- 
its, and  passions  of  every  people,  and  all  the  pride, 
wit,  and  influence  of  every  school  of  philosophy  in  the 
world.  Add  to  this,  that  the  character  of  the  age  was 
peculiarly  adapted  to  increase  the  difl^culties  above- 
mentioned,  and  to  put  the  truth  of  such  a  religion  as 
that  of  the  gospel  to  the  very  closest  and  strongest 
trial.  The  agents  intrusted  with  the  propagation  of 
Christianity  were  of  all  men  the  most  unfitted  for  their 
work,  on  the  supposition  that  it  was  one  of  imposture. 
They  set  up  their  banner  when  every  thing  visible  on 
their  side  only  tended  to  inspire  them  with  despair, 
and  every  thing  on  the  side  of  their  enemies  was 
considered  as  triumphant.  The  mode  they  adopted 
was  directly  calculated,  on  human  principles,  to  in- 
crease and  multiply  all  their  difficulties.  They  were 
encountered  everywhere  by  the  fiercest  persecution 
that  the  malignant  ingenuity  of  enemies  could  invent, 
and  the  principalities  and  powers  of  the  earth  could 
execute.  In  spite  of  all  these  enormous  combinations 
of  resistance,  such  was  the  rapid  and  mighty  progress 
of  the  gospel,  that  in  thirty  years  the  Roman  empire 
was  everywhere  pervaded  with  its  influence,  and  even 
haughty  Rome  could  yield  a  great  multitude  as  her 
first-fruits  for  the  fires  of  persecution.  The  conver- 
sions which  ensued  in  such  numbers,  were  changes 
not  merely  of  opinion,  but  of  heart  and  Ufe ;  they  in- 


472  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

volved  individuals  of  all  classes  of  mind,  of  learning, 
of  rank,  and  of  opulence.  Nothing  in  any  degree 
corresponding  to  this  work  had  ever  been  known  bo 
fore,  or  has  ever  been  witnessed  since;  even  though 
efforts  have  frequently  been  made,  in  circumstances 
and  with  means  much  more  advantageous  than  theirs, 
on  the  supposition  that  the  apostles  were  not  specially 
favored  of  God.  All  these  particulars  combined 
demonstrate,  that  in  the  labors  of  the  apostles,  none 
but  **God  gave  the  increase,"  because  none  but  God 
could  give  such  increase.  They  present  a  miracle  as 
unquestionable  as  if,  at  the  bidding  of  man,  a  rock 
should  become  a  fountain  of  water. 

Thus,  a  third  time  did  we  finish  our  proof.  Here 
again  might  the  argument  have  been  safely  terminated. 
But  the  FRUITS  OF  Christianity  presented  a  source  of 
additional  evidence  too  important  to  be  omitted.  We 
began,  in  this  department,  with  the  effects  of  Chris- 
lianity  on  society  in  general.  We  surveyed  the 
moral  condition  of  mankind  when-  the  gospel  era  com- 
menced. The  most  polished,  literary,  and  admired 
nations  of  the  ancient  world  were  selected,  as  at  least 
favorable  specimens  of  all  others.  Their  personal, 
domestic,  and  social  virtues  were  placed  in  compari- 
son with  those  of  civilized  nations  of  the  present  age, 
and  especially  with  those  which  Christian  influence 
has  most  thoroughly  pervaded.  The  contrast  was 
exceedingly  impressive.  The  moral  improvements 
effected  in  society  have  been  immense  and  inesti- 
mable. We  found  nothing  in  the  philosophy,  or  the 
leligion,  or  the  fluctuations,  or  any  other  ingredient  of 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  473 

the  heathen  or  infidel  world,  to  effect  such  a  change. 
No  heathen  nation  left  to  itself  has  ever  reformed. 
The  history  of  the  world  demonstrates  that  the  whole 
work  must  be  charged  to  Christianity.  And  the  his- 
tory of  Christian  effort  among  heathen  nations  of  the 
present  age,  demonstrates  that  Christianity  was  capa- 
ble, and  ever  will  be  capable  of  accomplishing  such 
blessed  results. 

From  the  fruits  of  Christianity  on  society  in  gen- 
eral, we  turned  to  those  exhibited  in  the  character 
and  happiness  of  its  genuine  disciples.  Undeniable 
and  innumerable  transformations  in  moral  character 
and  habits  were  pointed  out,  which  are  utterly  in- 
capable  of  explanation  but  on  the  supposition  of  a 
divine  power  accompanying  the  gospel.  A  compari- 
son was  drawn  between  the  lives  of  genuine  dis- 
ciples of  Christ,  and  those  for  which  unbelievers  are 
notorious.  Another  was  instituted  between  the  death- 
bed scenes  and  testimonies  of  real  Christians,  and 
such  as  have  been  witnessed  in  connection  with  infi- 
delity. It  appeared,  that  with  a  few  exceptions,  indi- 
viduals are  the  slaves  of  sin  in  proportion  as  they  are 
devoted  to  infidelity  ;  while  it  was  equally  evident, 
that  without  any  exception,  they  become  servants  of 
righteousness  in  proportion  as  their  hearts  are  sur-. 
rendered  to  the  influence  of  the  gospel.  It  appeared 
that  while  no  unbeliever,  under  the  trial  of  death,  ever 
advanced  beyond  the  negative  and  comfortless  com- 
posure of  a  Stoic,  and  multitudes,  and  the  very  chief 
of  their  profession,  have  in  that  extremity  abandoned 
their  sentiments  with  horror ;  it  was  never  heard,  on 


474  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  other  hand,  that  a  Christian  regretted  in  his 
death  having  believed  and  obeyed  the  gospel,  while 
innumerable  disciples  of  that  blessed  faith,  in  the 
very  act  of  dissolution,  have  risen  to  the  most  tri- 
umphant assurance  of  eternal  life  and  glory.  Such 
are  the  legitimate  fruits  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

On  the  wise  principle,  therefore,  that  **  a  corrupt 
tree  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit,"  we  must  pro- 
nounce Christianity  good ;  and  since  no  religion  can 
be  good  without  being  true,  or  as  Hume  expressed  it, 
"error  never  can  produce  good,"  we  must  conclude 
that  her  assertion  of  divine  authority  is  worthy  of  all 
acceptation.  Thus  terminated  the  argument  of  the 
last  lecture. 

And  now,  while  the  retrospect  we  have  been 
taking  is  fresh  in  your  memories,  consider, 

1.  The  plainness  and  simplicity  which  charac- 
terize the  evidences  of  Christianity.  To  understand 
the  meaning  and  appreciate  the  force  of  any  or  all  of 
them,  so  far  as  is  necessary  to  a  clear,  intelligent, 
and  impressive  conviction  of  the  divine  inspiration  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  the  divine  nature  and  mission  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  a  work  to  which  the  mind 
of  any  thoughtful  individual  of  ordinary  information 
.  is  competent.  Willingness  to  read,  readiness  to  learn, 
humility  to  submit  to  conviction,  and  an  ordinary 
knowledge  of  the  meaning  of  words,  are  the  only 
requisites  for  a  satisfactory  investigation  of  the  whole 
argument.  How  different  in  this  respect  is  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ  from  all  the  speculating  and  metaphysi- 
cal systems  of  infidel  philosophy.    What  would  plain 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  475 

cx>mmon-sense  people  do,  did  their  understanding  of 
the  grounds  of  faith  and  duty  depend  upon  such  dark 
questions,  as  the  sufficiency  of  the  light  of  nature, 
the  origin  of  evil,  the  metaphysical  relations  of  cause 
and  effect,  the  foundation  of  virtue,  the  elements  of 
accountability,  the  freedom  of  the  will,  etc.  ? — ques- 
tions which  must  be  settled  in  our  own  minds,  and 
by  our  own  reason,  before  we  can  consistently  em- 
brace any  other  religion  than  that  of  revelation,  but 
about  which  all  the  philosophy  on  earth,  if  it  reject 
the  Scriptures,  may  speculate  to  the  end  of  time, 
without  arriving  at  sufficient  certainty  to  satisfy  a 
single  conscience.  The  gospel  requires  no  abstract 
theories  to  explain  its  way  of  salvation,  its  principles 
of  obligation,  or  its  rule  of  duty.  It  simply  presents 
the  evidence  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  and  the  sent 
of  God,  came  into  the  world  to  teach  and  to  save 
sinners,  and  then  to  every  sinner  publishes  this  plain 
direction:  what  Jesus  in  his  word  has  taught,  be- 
lieve ;  what  he  has  there  commanded,  follow ;  in  his 
merits  alone  put  your  trust  for  peace  with  God,  and 
through  his  righteousness  thou  shalt  be  saved. 

2.  Consider  the  great  variety  and  accumulation 
of  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  In  the  lectures  to 
which  you  have  listened,  were  presented  no  less  than 
four  independent  and  complete  methods  of  proof,  each 
of  which  is  amply  sufficient  to  bear  the  whole  weight 
of  the  gospel.  The  argument  from  miracles  is  con- 
clusive without  the  argument  from  prophecy.  The 
latter  is  in  no  wise  dependent  upon  the  former,  or  any 
other  evidence.     The  argument  from  the  propagation 


476  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

is  complete  in  itself,  and  so  is  that  from  the  fruits  of 
Christianity.  But  under  each  of  these  general  heads 
what  a  boundless  variety  of  auxiliary  evidences'  might 
have  been  adduced.  Every  single  miracle,  every 
fulfilled  prophecy,  a  thousand  separate  facts  in  the 
spread  of  the  gospel,  and  innumerable  examples  of 
its  holy  fruits  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  believers, 
would  have  furnished  us  with  so  many  effulgent 
centres,  from  all  of  which  rays  of  brilliant  evidence 
are  continually  meeting  and  harmonizing  in  a  shining 
testimony  to  Jesus  as  the  resurrection  and  the  life. 

But  remember  that  one  whole  division,  out  of  the 
two  which  embrace  the  great  field  of  Christian  evi- 
dence, has  been  left  untouched.  We  have  found  an 
astonishing  variety  and  accumulation  of  proof;  and 
yet  the  whole  department  of  internal  evidence,  that 
which  arises  from  tlie  search  of  the  New  Testament 
itself — its  spirit,  manner,  dress,  and  beauty,  the 
simplicity  of  its  character,  the  benevolence  of  its 
temper,  its  power  over  the  conscience,  the  suitable- 
ness of  its  contents  to  the  wants  of  man,  the  ex- 
cellence of  its  doctrines,  the  purity  and  elevation  of 
its  morals,  the  character  and  conduct  of  Jesus,  and 
the  happy  tendency  of  all  his  instructions:  this  im- 
mense field  of  diversified  evidence,  secondary  to  none 
in  its  influence  upon  the  mind,  and  superior  to  all  in 
its  direct  appeal  to  the  heart,  we  have  not  so  much 
as  entered.  Could  we  but  see  all  the  separate 
streams  united  in  one ;  could  we  measure  at  once 
the  force  of  that  majestic  tide  which  collects  its 
innumerable  tributaries  from  all  ages  and  all  nations 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  477 

and  all  hearts ;  could  we  appreciate  its  strength  by 
an  accurate  estimate  of  all  the  obstructions  with 
which  earth  and  hell,  *^  the  prince  of  the  power  of 
the  air,"  and  "  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this 
world,"  have  endeavored  to  resist  its  course — the 
mountains  of  difficulty  which  in  every  century  it 
has  rent  asunder  or  rolled  away  to  clear  its  course — 
we  should  wonder,  indeed,  at  what  divine  goodness 
has  done  to  make  us  believers,  and  at  what  human 
obduracy  has  been  able  to  withstand  for  the  purpose 
of  continuing  in  unbelief. 

But  this  astonishing  flood  of  evidence  is  per- 
petually increasing.  Every  additional  benefit  which 
Christianity  bestows  upon  any  portion  of  mankind, 
every  additional  conversion  of  a  sinner  to  God,  every 
holy  life  that  is  added  to  the  shining  ranks  of  the 
followers  of  Christ,  every  new  triumph  of  Christian 
faith  over  the  trials  of  life  and  the  terrors  of  death, 
every  increase  in  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  every 
advance  in  the  conquest  of  the  gospel  over  the  dark- 
ness of  paganism,  every  new  year  of  victory  over  all 
the  resistance  of  pretended  friends  and  unfaithful 
professors,  of  internal  divisions  and  infidel  enmity,  is 
a  new  stream  to  swell  the  many  waters  which  one 
day,  like  the  deluge  of  old,  will  drown  unbelief  in  its 
last  refuge,  and  make  all  nations  and  kindreds  know 
how  precious,  as  an  ark  of  safety,  is  He  who  '^  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners." 

But  who  can  ask  for  additional  evidence  ?  Did 
not  the  question  affect  the  darling  idols  of  the  heart ; 
were  it  one  of  property,  or  of  science,  or  of  human 


478  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

life  ;  were  it  some  new  medicine  to  heal  the  maladies 
of  the  body,  that  laid  before  us  this  immense  mass  of 
credentials  from  all  generations  ;  or  were  it  a  scheme 
for  the  acquisition  of  earthly  gain,  that  came  to  us 
accompanied  with  such  voluminous  evidence  of  its 
unfailing  truth  and  wisdom,  no  man  of  common 
sense  could  hesitate  a  moment  to  give  it  his  unquali- 
fied belief.  All  men  are  continually  committing  their 
dearest  interests  to  evidence  unspeakably  inferior.  We 
intrust  our  lives  to  the  care  of  physicians,  of  whose 
skill  and  wisdom  and  carefulness  and  honesty  we 
have  no  assurance  comparable  to  our  proof  of  Jesus, 
as  the  only  physician  to  save  our  souls,  and  as  that 
all-sufficient  One  in  whoso  hands  none  can  perish. 
We  believe,  without  a  question,  in  all  the  great 
events  of  history  ;  and  yet  their  evidence  is  so  incon- 
siderable in  comparison  with  the  proof  of  the  gospel, 
that  if  you  take  away  as  unestablished  the  great 
])illars  of  the  argument  of  Christianity,  you  pro- 
nounce the  whole  foundation  of  historical  knowledge 
unestablished ;  yea,  you  rob  mankind  of  the  whole 
fruit  of  human  testimony,  and  write  terra  incognita 
over  almost  the  whole  map  of  the  generations  and 
things  of  the  universe. 

3.  How  impressive  to  the  mind  of  every  human 
being  should  the  evidence  of  Christianity  appear. 
If  he  take  up  any  system  of  faith  which  men  have 
ever  attempted  to  substitute  for  the  gospel,  and  com- 
pare its  evidences,  how  immediately  is  it  confounded 
by  the  contrast.  If  he  attempt  to  set  aside  any  one 
of  the  great  proofs  on  which  the  noble  fabric  of  Chris- 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  479 

tianity  is  supported,  how  immediately  are  his  efforts 
defeated  and  his  weapons  broken?  He  may  invent 
difficulties,  but  the  arguments  of  the  gospel  he 
cannot  answer.  What  then  is  the  condition  of  the 
inquirer  ?  The  religion  of  Christ  thus  solemnly  and 
impressively  attested,  declares  him  a  sinner  before  a 
just  and  holy  God,  condemned  under  sentence  of  the 
divine  law  to  eternal  retribution  and  woe.  It  tells 
him,  that  except  he  repent  he  must  perish ;  except 
he  believe  in  and  follow  Jesus,  as  his  master  and 
only  hope,  he  cannot  be  delivered  from  condemna- 
tion. It  declares,  on  the  other  hand,  that  if  he  repent 
and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  shall  be 
saved  ;  the  sting  of  death  will  be  taken  away ;  an 
inheritance  will  be  given  him  "  that  is  incorruptible 
and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away."  All  this 
comes  to  him  under  the  sanction  of  evidences  innu- 
merable, for  none  of  which  hath  a  refutation  ever 
been  invented.  History  informs  him  that  the  best 
and  wisest  men  of  all  ages  have  considered  those 
evidences  incontrovertible.  Immense  multitudes  as- 
sure him,  that  in  embracing  the  gospel  they  have 
experienced  the  truth  of  its  promises,  and  realized 
the  holy  and  happy  influence  of  its  doctrines.  The 
probability,  to  say  the  very  least,  must  seem  im- 
mense even  to  a  sceptic,  that  should  he  reject  Chris- 
tianity, he  would  reject  the  truth  of  Grod  and  incur 
eternal  ruin.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  certainty 
is  evident,  that  should  he  embrace  it,  not  only  would 
he  suffer  no  loss  in  case  it  should  prove  untrue,  but 
he  would   gain  many  precious  consolations  in  this 


480    "  M^ILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

life,  of  which  infidelity  is  entirely  barren.  In  thes3 
circumstances,  how  serious  is  the  crisis  when  he  is 
making  the  choice  whether  to  he  an  infidel  or  a 
Christian.  Does  he  decide  for  infidelity  ?  he  can 
gain  nothing ;  he  certainly  loses  much ;  and  if  the 
gospel  be  true,  he  loses  all  for  ever.  Does  he  decide 
for  Christianity  ?  he  can  lose  nothing ;  he  certainly 
gains  a  great  deal ;  and  if  even  then  infidelity  should 
prove  to  be  true,  he  has  nothing  to  regret  but  that 
truth  and  happiness  should  be  so  directly  at  war. 

Then  what  a  step  does  he  take,  who,  notwith- 
standing all  the  evidences  of  the  religion  of  Jesus, 
determines  upon  its  denial !  What  solemnity  and 
carefulness  of  investigation,  what  candor  and  impar- 
tiality of  judgment,  what  jealousy  over  one's  own 
inclinations  and  prejudices,  what  long  and  patient 
consideration,  what  earnest  prayer  for  divine  guid- 
ance and  help  should  precede  such  a  decision.  One 
would  suppose  that  at  least  the  maturest  knowledge, 
and  the  coolest  temperament,  and  the  most  sober 
hours,  would  be  waited  for  before  coming  to  a  point 
on  which  such  tremendous  consequences  are  sus- 
pended. What  then  is  our  amazement  to  see  the 
stupid  ignorance,  or  the  senseless  levity,  or  the  lazy 
thoughtlessness,  or  the  intemperate  enmity,  with 
which  this  momentous  decision  is  almost  always 
made!  How  many  become  infidels,  not  only  with- 
out candid  investigation,  but  without  any  serious 
thinking — without  so  much  as  an  inquiry — without 
even  a  decent  sobriety  of  mind.  To  such  persons,  I 
know  not  a  more  alarming  occupation  than  that  of 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  481 

reading  a  well-ordered  exhibition  of  the  evidences  of 
Christianity. 

Have  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  religion  been 
ever  answered?  Infidels  have  attacked  Christianity; 
but  any  thing  may  be  attacked.  They  have  slan- 
dered her  doctrines,  ridiculed  her  word,  reviled  her 
precepts,  hated  her  hoUness,  and  influenced  many  to 
go  and  do  likewise ;  but  neither  hatred,  nor  reviling, 
nor  ridicule,  nor  slander  is  the  test  of  truth.  Have 
infidels  ever  resorted  to  the  one  only  fair  and  honest 
mode  of  meeting,  face  to  face,  the  whole  array  of 
testimony  which  Christianity  advances,  and  endeav- 
oring coolly  to  prove,  as  a  matter  of  historical  evi- 
dence, that  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament 
and  the  credibility  of  its  history  are  not  sustained ; 
that  the  miracles  of  Jesus  have  not  been  supported 
with  adequate  testimony;  that  the  prophecies  of  the 
Scriptures  have  met  their  attestation  in  no  accurate 
histories ;  that  Christianity  was  propagated  by  human 
force  alone,  and  its  fruits  are  those  of  a  corrupt  and 
deceitful  tree  ?  I  answer,  No.  There  is  no  such  effort 
in  the  books  of  infidelity.  I  read  of  speculations,  op- 
posed  to  our  facts;  insinuations,  in  answer  to  our 
•  testimonies ;  sneers,  in  reply  to  our  solemn  reason- 
ings ;  assertions,  where  we  demanded  arguments ; 
levity  and  presumption,  where  an  advocate  of  truth 
would  have  been  serious  and  humble.  But  I  know 
of  no  such  thing  as  a  book  of  infidelity  in  any  sense 
corresponding  in  the  nature,  or  grounds,  or  spirit  of 
its  reasoning,  with  such  arguments  for  Christianity 
as  those  of  Paley,  or  Lardner,  or  Gregory,  or  Wilson, 

Evidences.  2 1 


482  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

and  a  thousand  others,  to  which  no  man  ever  dared 
lo  attempt  an  answer.  Infidelity,  like  an  insect  on 
ihc  pillar  of  some  stupendous  temple,  that  can  see  no 
further  than  the  microscopic  irregularities  of  the  pol- 
islied  marble  beneath  its  feet,  may  busy  itself  in 
hunting  for  little  specks  in  the  surface  of  the  stately 
edifice  of  Christianity,  but  has  no  such  eye,  and 
takes  no  such  elevated  stand,  as  would  enable  it  to 
survey  the  whole  plan,  and  judge  of  its  pretensions 
by  the  mutual  adaptation  of  its  parts,  the  harmony 
and  grandeur  of  its  proportions. 

4.  But  there  is  a  most  important  feature  in  all 
the  evidence  we  have  been  considering,  to  which  I 
now  direct  your  special  attention.  It  is  strictly  phil- 
osophicaL  By  this  I .  mean,  that  the  process  by 
which  we  have  arrived  at  the  truth  of  Christianity  is 
))recisely  similar  to  that  by  wliich  the  astronomer 
arrives  at  the  most  certain  trutlis  of  the  celestial 
bodies,  or  the  chemist  determines  the  most  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  his  important  science.  The  grand 
characteristic  of  the  philosophy  that  Bacon  illustrated 
and  Newton  so  nobly  applied,  and  to  which  all  sci- 
ence is  so  deeply  indebted,  is,  that  it  discards  specu- 
lation, places  no  dependence  upon  theory,  demands 
fact  for  every  thing,  and  in  every  thing  submits  im- 
plicitly to  the  decision  of  fact,  no  matter  how  incom- 
prehensible,  or  how  opposed  by  all  the  speculations 
of  the  world.  This  is  called  inductive  philosophy,  in 
distinction  from  that  of  theory  and  conjecture.  It 
collects  its  facts  by  personal  experiments  and  obser- 
vation, or  by  the  testimony  of  those  whose  experi- 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  483 

ments  and  observations,  and  whose  fidelity  in  record- 
ing them,  are  worthy  of  reliance.  From  these  it 
makes  its  careful  inductions,  and  determines  the 
laws  of  science,  with  a  degree  of  plain,  unpresuming 
authority  to  which  every  enlightened  mind  feels  it 
ought  to  bow.  The  great  principle  of  all  Newton's 
Principia,  and  that  on  which  he  set  the  ladder  that 
raised  him  to  the  stars,  was  this  simple  axiom :  "  What- 
ever is  collected  from  this  induction  ought  to  be  re- 
ceived, notwithstanding  any  conjectural  hypothesis  to 
the  contrary,  till  such  time  as  it  shall  be  contradicted 
or  limited  by  further  observations."  But  why  is  not 
this  self-evident  truth  as  fundamental  in  religion  as 
in  astronomy  ?  If  Reid  and  Stewart  have  been  per- 
mitted, with  universal  consent  and  approbation,  to 
apply  the  simple  principles  of  induction  to  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  mind,  on  what  possible  ground  can  they 
be  excluded  from  the  philosophy  of  the  soul — the 
religion  of  the  heart?  We  beg  as  a  favor,  what  is 
also  demanded  as  a  right,  that  Christianity  may  bo 
tried  by  the  strictest  application  of  these  principles. 
You  are  called  upon  for  no  greater  effort  of  credulity, 
no  more  implicit  reliance  on  testimony,  in  order  to 
receive  the  whole  system  of  Christianity  as  a  divine 
revelation,  than  you  are  obliged  daily  to  exercise  in 
believing  those  innumerable  facts  in  natural  science 
which  you  have  not  the  opportunity  of  testing  by 
your  own  experiments.  In  regard  to  these,  you  sim- 
ply ask,  What  is  the  statement  ?  Is  it  accurate  ?  Is 
it  honest  ?  However  it  may  contradict  your  previous 
ideas,  or  spem  at  variance  with  previous  phenomena, 


4M  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

or  even  with  well-established  laws,  you  only  investi- 
gate the  testimony  with  the  more  carefulness.  This 
confirmed,  you  receive  the  facts,  and  instead  of  squar- 
ing them  by  any  of  your  old  theories  or  speculations, 
you  proceed  to  measure  .the  latter  by  their  line,  with 
as  much  submission  as  if  every  mystery  involved  in 
them  were  perfectly  explained.  Only  behave  thus 
reasonably  in  the  investigation  of  the  great  question 
we  have  been  considering.  Apply  to  it  the  measur- 
ing rod  of  sound  philosophy.  Let  every  speculation 
as  to  its  truth  be  blotted  out.  Let  all  conjectural 
hypotheses,  for  and  against  it,  be  set  aside.  Let  the 
infidel  and  the  Christian  sit  together  in  the  chairs  of 
Hacon  and  Newton,  and  with  that  stern  rejection  of 
mere  theory  and  that  lowly  deference  to  fact  which 
so  eminently  distinguished  those  venerable  patriarchs 
of  modern  science,  let  the  New  Testament  be  brought 
to  the  bar.  It  professes  to  be  the  authentic  and  cred- 
ible record  of  the  life  and  doctrine  of  Christ.  In  it, 
Christ  professes  to  have  been  sent  of  God.  Let  the 
question  be  put — not,  is  this  religion  consistent  with 
our  notions  of  what  man  wanted,  and  God  might 
have  been  expected  to  reveal?  not,  does  it  contain 
any  thing  strange,  or  mysterious,  or  apparently  con- 
tradictory to  what  we  have  been  accustomed  to  be- 
lieve? but  let  it  be  a  plain  question  of  inductive 
philosophy.  Is  Christianity  supported  by  a  compe- 
tent number  of  well-certified  facts  ?  Is  there  so  much 
credible  testimony  that  we  are  warranted  in  deter- 
mining  that  the  New  Testament  is  authentic ;  that 
if<;  ]ii<torv    is  true;    tbnt    .Tp^nvi  (WA    work    miraflns; 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  486 

that  his  prophecies  have  been  fulfilled ;  that  no  hu- 
man power,  unaided  by  that  of  God,  can  account  for 
the  propagation  of  his  gospel ;  that  no  corrupt  impos- 
ture could  ever  produce  the  fruit  with  which  its  influ- 
ence has  blessed  mankind  ?  ,  If  there  be,  then  all  true 
philosophy  says,  **  Christianity  ought  to  be  believed, 
notwithstanding  any  conjectural  hypothesis  to  the 
contrary.'*  Only  confine  yourselves  to  this  mode  of 
investigation,  and  submit  yourselves  to  this  simple 
law  of  evidence,  and  like  Newton,  you  may  mount  a 
ladder  set  on  a  rock  and  reaching  to  the  right  hand 
of  the  throne  of  God.  Proceed  on  any  other  principle, 
and,  like  the  heavenly  vortexes  and  the  immense 
currents  of  ethereal  matter  in  the  pliilosophy  of  Des 
Cartes,  it  can  only  lead  you  into  inextricable  confu- 
sion. But  if  you  adopt  the  true  principles,  what  be- 
comes of  the  writings  of  infidels  ?  They  fall  amidst 
the  rubbish  of  vain  speculations  and  ingenious  absurd- 
ities and  scholastic  trifling  of  the  dark  ages,  when  to 
get  wealth  by  the  hypothesis  of  a  philosopher's  stone, 
instead  of  the  homely,  experimental  realities  of  dili- 
gence and  common-sense,  was  the  great  eftbrt  of  scien- 
tific ambition.  Infidelity  is  all  speculation.  Reduce 
it  to  a  residuum  of  inductive  reasoning,  and  you  bring 
it  to  nothingness.  Strip  it  of  its  several  envelopes  of 
ingenious  hypothesis  and  bold  assertion  and  scoff- 
ing declamation,  and  you  find  notliing  left  but  a  man 
of  straw — an  ugly  shape  to  keep  the  hungry  from 
the  bread  of  life — which  you  need  only  approach  to 
discover  that  it  is  made  of  rags,  and  stuffed  with 
rottenness. 


486  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

The  argument  for  the  divine  authority  of  the  gos- 
pel is  all  composed  of  statements  of  undeniable  facts, 
and  of  direct  inferences  legitimately  drawn  from 
them.  I  defy  the  ingenuity  of  the  keenest  critic  to 
take  up  the  course  of  reasoning  to  which  you  have 
listened,  and  point  out  a  single  theory  or  speculation, 
any  thing  depended  on  for  proof,  but  plain  statements 
of  facts,  established  as  perfectly  and  bearing  as 
directly  upon  the  point  in  question,  as  any  of  the 
observations  of  Newton's  telescope  or  of  Davy's  cru- 
cible. Not  a  word  have  wc  said  as  to  what  might  be 
supposed  or  conjectured,  what  is  likely  or  unlikely, 
what  might  have  been  expected  or  the  contrary,  but 
have  simply  inquired,  ivhat  is  historically  true.  Let 
our  opponents  do  likewise.  Whether  any  thing  in 
Christianity  appears  to  them  probable  or  improbable, 
consistent  or  inconsistent,  agreeable  to  what  they 
should  have  expected,  or  the  contrary,  wise  and  good, 
or  ridiculous  and  useless,  is  perfectly  irrelevant.  We 
can  by  no  means  consent  to  make  their  judgments 
the  standard  in  such  matters.  Infidels  are  thought 
to  entertain  very  absurd  and  inconsistent  ideas  of 
absurdity  and  inconsistency,  and  of  what  should  be 
esteemed  as  both  good  and  wise.  We  ask  them  to 
descend  from  their  flights  of  fancy  and  speculation, 
and  condescend,  in  matters  of  religion,  to  do  what, 
in  those  of  science,  public  opinion  would  force  them 
to,  or  laugh  them  out  of  countenance :  to  sit  down 
to  the  plain  investigation,  on  principles  of  common 
evidence,  of  the /ac/s  which  support  Christianity,  de- 
termined to  believe  what  may  be  collected  therefrom. 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  487 

notwithstanding  any  of  their  conjectural  hypotheses 
to  the  contrary.  Such  was  once  the  honest  demand 
of  astronomy  and  chemistry  upon  all  the  trihcs  of 
theorists  and  conjecturalists,  in  those  departments 
of  science.  It  is  but  a  short  time  since  our  present 
fundamental  doctrines  on  those  subjects  were  op- 
posed by  philosophers  whose  speculations  they  rooted 
up,  precisely  as  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel  are 
still  opjxised  by  infidels  whose  lives  they  condemn. 
By  and  by  it  became  irresistibly  evident  that  there 
is  no  way  to  science  but  by  the  slow  and  humble 
path  of  experiment,  obtained  either  by  personal  ob- 
servation or  by  the  credible  testimony  of  others.  As 
soon  as  men  of  scientific  minds  shall  learn  to  be  con- 
sistent with  their  own  principles,  and  to  reason  phil- 
csophically,  as  well  when  a  law  of  religion  as  when  a 
law  of  nature  is  concerned,  then  the  contradiction  will 
no  longer  appear  of  a  philosopher  loving  to  investigate 
the  works  of  God,  but  rejecting  his  word.* 

In  truth,  the  evidence  of  Christianity  rests  upon 
a  basis  which  cannot  be  condemned  without  the 
downfall  of  many  of  the  most  important  works  of 
science.  The  main  facts  and  reasonings  of  chemistry 
are  considered  undeniable,  because  experimental.  But 
who  feels  it  necessary  to  make  all  the  experiments, 
or  to  see  them  made,  before  he  will  believe  ?  Many 
of  the  most  important  he  receives,  and  must  receive, 
upon  the  testimony  of  others.      Thus  it  is  also  in 

*  On  the  application  of  the  inductive  philosophy  to  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity,  see  chapters  8  and  9  of  Chalmers'  Evi- 
dences. 


486  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

astronomical  calculations.  Seldom  are  the  facts  ob- 
tained from  our  own  observations.  Many  of  them 
y^'e  believe  because  they  are  reported  by  credible 
witnesses.  We  come  to  a  certain  result,  by  means 
of  a  number  taken  from  a  table  of  calculations  made 
to  our  hands,  with  as  much  assurance,  and  base  our 
reasonings  upon  it  as  confidently,  as  if  wo  had  ob- 
tained all  the  elements  by  our  own  labor;  and  yet 
the  very  corner-stone  of  our  computation  is  a  mere 
matter  of  testimony.  On  such  reliance  are  eclipses 
predicted,  and  nautical  observations  founded ;  and 
yet  a  man  of  science  who  should  evince  any  scepti- 
cism with  regard  to  conclusions  thus  ascertained, 
would  render  himself  no  less  an  object  of  ridicule 
than  if  he  should  cavil  about  the  sun's  rising  to- 
morrow. What  is  a  page  of  logarithms  but  a  page 
of  assertions,  the  whole  value  of  which  is  the  faith  of 
testimony  ;  and  yet  upon  such  data  the  most  mo- 
mentous calculations  in  the  exact  sciences  are  based 
without  a  question. 

Pure  mathematics  are  considered  as  involving 
complete  demonstrations.  Mathematical  reasoning  is 
regarded  as  the  very  perfection  of  certainty.  And 
yet,  in  many  of  its  most  important  operations,  ele- 
ments, on  which  the  whole  chain  depends,  are 
assumed  on  a  basis  not  a  particle  more  sure,  to  say 
the  least,  than  that  on  which  our  belief  of  the  Chris- 
tian miracles  is  founded.  "  Who  would  scruple,  in  a 
geometrical  investigation,  to  adopt  as  a  link  in  the 
chain  a  theorem  of  Apollonius  or  of  Archimedes, 
although  he  might  not  have  leisure  at  tlUfe  moment 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  489 

to  satisfy  himself  by  an  actual  examination  of  their 
demonstrations,  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  no  paral- 
ogism, either  of  accident  or  design,  in  the  course  of 
their  reasonings?"*  And  yet  a  result,  however  im- 
portant, arising  from  such  an  investigation,  none 
would  suspect.  A  philosopher  would  rest  his  life 
upon  its  certainty.  But  have  we  assurance  of  the 
accuracy  and  honesty  of  such  men,  to  whose  testi- 
mony we  thus  implicitly  yield,  whether  they  be 
mathematicians  or  chemists,  or  astronomers,  com- 
parable in  any  degree  to  our  assurance  of  the  com- 
petent knowledge  and  immovable  honesty  of  those 
original  witnesses  of  the  works  of  Jesus,  who  have 
borne  such  devoted  testimony  to  his  miracles  ?  Did 
ApoUonius,  or  Archimedes,  or  any  philosophers  of 
later  times,  seal  their  honesty  with  their  blood  ?  Did 
they  suffer  the  loss  of  all  things  in  maintenance  of 
their  doctrines  ?  Were  they  willing  to  be  accounted 
as  fools  for  the  sake  of  their  testimony  ?  Did  Grali- 
leo  brave  the  torture  of  the  inquisition,  sooner  than 
deny  his  astronomical  discoveries?  We  do  not  re- 
quire such  extreme  evidence  of  integrity  even  in  the 
greatest  questions  of  scientific  testimony.  It  were 
folly  to  expect  it.  We  are  satisfied  with  a  far  in- 
ferior degree  of  assurance.  And  yet  such,  in  ten 
thousands  of  instances,  is  the  evidence  by  which  we 
know  the  honesty  of  those  from  whom  comes  our 
testimony  to  the  great  facts  of  the  gospel  history. 
They  did  suffer  the  loss  of  all  things  ;  they  did  endure 
to  be  treated  as  the  offscouring  of  all  things  ;  they 

*  Stewart's  Philosophy,  b.  2,  p.  178. 
21* 


490  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

did  give  themselves  to  the  rack  and  flame  and  wild 
beasts  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 

I  mentioned,  in  the  announcement  of  this  lecture, 
that  besides  a  summary  of  the  whole  previous  course, 
it  would  contain  an  application  of  the  argument  to 
the  principal  objections  brought  forward  by  infidels. 
This,  in  substance  has  been  exhibited.  We  know  of 
no  objection  of  any  importance,  which  is  not  put  to 
silence  and  buried  by  an  appeal  from  what  men 
think  to  what  men  have  done — from  speculation  to 
testimony — from  the  ideas  of  objectors  to  the  facts 
of  witnesses.  The  simple  application  of  the  great 
principle  of  inductive  philosophy,  that  whatever  is 
collected  by  observation  ought  to  be  received^  any 
hypothesis  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  is  the 
smooth  white  .stone  in  the  sling  of  David,  before 
which  no  champion  of  the  Philistines,  however  gigan- 
tic in  intellect  or  learning,  or  in  the  boast  of  either, 
can  stand.  I  am  now  speaking  of  the  chief  objec- 
tions. I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  ignorant  rib- 
aldry of  such  an  antagonist  as  Paine.  To  this  man 
the  purity  of  the  gospel  was  its  chief  deformity  ;  and 
its  stern  contradiction  of  his  disgusting  vices,  its 
most  irreconcilable  inconsistency.  He  studied  the 
Bible  to  defame  it,  and  scraped  the  common  sewers 
of  infidelity  for  its  very  lowest  and  filthiest  objec- 
tions ;  and  then,  without  honesty  even  to  advert  to 
the  thousand  answers  each  had  received  in*  its  day, 
served  them  up  with  his  own  dressing  of  strong  as- 
sertion and  acrid  ridicule,  and  advertised  them  to  the 
world  as  his  own  and  as  unanswerable.     Such  mat- 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  491 

ters  we  must  leave  to  the  writings  of  those  who  have 
had  stomach  to  handle  them.  In  the  answer  of 
Bishop  Watson,  you  may  see  how  entirely  boasting 
.is  their  strength.  They  need  but  the  light  to  make 
all  their  show  of  argument  fade  away.  Their  best 
answer  is  found  in  the  profligate  life  and  despairing 
death  of  the  poof  miserable  man  himself. 

The  mysteriousness  of  certain  things  in  Christi- 
anity is  urged  as  a  strong  reason  for  the  rejection  of 
its  divine  authority.  Many  will  not  believe  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  the  divinity  of  Christ,  his  incar- 
nation, his  atoning  sacrifice,  his  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  his  intercession  in  heaven,  the  influences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  upon  the  hearts  of  men,  and  our  new 
creation  unto  holiness  by  his  converting  power,  not 
to  speak  of  many  other  of  the  deep  things  of  God, 
because  they  are  mysteries.  Mysteries  they  are  un- 
questionably, and  were  intended  to  be  so  regarded. 
So  far  as  we  have  need  to  understand  them,  tfiey  are 
as  intelligible  as  the  plain  truth  that  man  is  the  union 
of  body  and  spirit.  So  far  as  we  are  not  concerned 
to  understand  them,  they  are  as  mysterious  as  the 
nature  of  the  union  between  body  and  spirit  in  man, 
but  not  more  so.  Religion  must  have  mysteries. 
"  Religion  without  its  mysteries  is  a  temple  without 
its  God." 

"Whither  shall  we  flee  to  get  beyond  the  region  of 
things  incomprehensible  ?  They  beset  us  behind  and 
before.  If  from  revealed  religion  we  go  to  natural, 
they  are  there.  The  most  essential  doctrine  of  all 
religion,  the  existence  of  God,  is  mystery  to  the 


492  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

uttermost.  What  explanation  can  be  given  of  his 
self-existence  ?  His  presence  in  all  parts  of  the  uni- 
verse at  once  ?  How  he  inhabits  eternity,  having  no 
relation  to  time — and  immensity,  having  no  relatiort 
to  space  ?  If  from  natural  religion  we  go  to  atheism, 
they  are  there  also.  He  who  denies  the  existence  of 
God,  plunges  at  once  into  the  most  confounding  of 
all  mysteries.  "What  in  Scripture  is  more  incompre- 
hensible, than  that  this  world  had  no  Maker ;  that 
all  its  examples  of  wise  and  deep  design  had  no  De- 
signer ?  Will  you  go  from  thence  to  the  experimen- 
tal certainties  of  natural  philosophy  ?  Mysteries  are 
there  also.  Explain  the  attraction  of  gravitation,  the 
nature  of  electricity,  the  elastic  power  of  steam,  the 
secrets  of  evaporation.  What  is  vegetable,  or  anir 
mal,  or  spiritual  life?  In  mechanics,  we  arrive  at 
the  utmost  certainty  respecting  the  relations  of  force, 
matter,  time,  motion,  space ;  while  with  the  things 
themselves  we  have  not  the  least  acquaintance.  They 
are  mysteries  as  unsearchable  to  us  as  the  deepest 
things  of  revealed  religion.  How  force  is  communi- 
cated from  one  body  to  another,  is  no  more  intelligible 
than  how  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  com- 
municated to  man.  Matter,  in  its  changes,  is  as 
incomprehensible  as  grace  in  its  operations.  ''  There 
are  questions,  doubts,  perplexities,  disputes,  diver- 
sities of  opinions,  about  the  one  as  well  as  about  the 
other.  Ought  we  not,  therefore,  by  a  parity  of  rea- 
soning, to  conclude  that  there  may  be  several  true 
and  highly  useful  propositions  about  the  latter  as 
well  as  about  the  former  ?    Nay,  I  will  venture  to  go 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  493 

further,  and  affirm,"  says  a  devoted  teacher  of  sci- 
ence, "  that  the  preponderance  of  the  argument  is  in 
favor  of  the  propositions  of  the  theologian.  For  while 
force,  time,  motion,  etc.,  are  avowedly  constituent 
parts  of  a  demonstrable  science,  and  ought  therefore 
to  be  presented  in  a  full  blaze  of  light,  the  obscure 
parts  proposed  in  the  Scriptures  for  our  assent  are 
avowedly  mysterious.  They  are  not  exhibited  to  be 
perfectly  understood,  but  to  be  believed.  They  can- 
not be  understood  without  ceasing  to  be  what  they 
are.  Obscurities,  however,  are  felt  as  incumbrances 
to  any  system  of  philosophy ;  while  mysteries  are 
ornaments  of  the  Christian  system,  and  tests  of  the 
humility  and  faith  of  its  votaries.  So  that  if  the 
rejecters  of  incomprehensibilities  acted  consistently 
with  their  own  principles,  they  would  rather  throw 
aside  all  philosophical  theories  in  w^hich  obscurities 
are  found  and  exist  as  defects^  than  the  system  of 
revealed  religion,  in  which  they  enter  as  essential 
parts  of  that  *  mystery  of  godliness'  in  which  the 
apostles  gloried."* 

If  from  natural  philosophy  we  ascend  to  the 
higher  branches  oi  pure  mathematics^  the  regions  of 
mimixed  light  and  certainty,  where  naught  is  toler- 
ated but  strict  demonstration,  even  there  will  mys- 
tery find  us  and  its  right  hand  will  hold  us. 

Explain  the  demonstrated  fact  that  "there  are 

curves  which  approach   continually   to    some   fixed 

right  line  without  the  possibility  of  ever  meeting  it ;" 

that  "  a  space  infinite  in  one  sense,  may,  by  its  rota- 

*  Gregory's  Letters. 


4d4  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tion,  generate  a  solid  oi  finite  capacity;"  that  ^^a 
variable  space  shall  be  continually  augmenting,  and 
yet  never  become  equal  to  a  certain  finite  quantity." 

These  are  depths  which  the  mathematician  can 
solve  no  better  than  Christians  can  explain  the  great 
mysteries  of  redemption.  But  they  do  not  hinder 
him.  He  can  use,  as  the  elements  of  his  calculation, 
doctrines  thus  incomprehensible  without  feeling  any 
diminution  in  the  certainty  of  the  result.  Why  may 
not  a  Christian,  with  equal  reason,  include  among 
the  articles  of  his  belief  doctrines  no  more  incom- 
prehensible, without  embarrassing  his  assurance 
of  the  duties  and  consolations  which  result  from 
them? 

If  mysteries  be  valid  objections  to  that  which 
speaks  of  Q-od  and  his  relations  to  man,  why  are 
they  not  at  least  as  formidable  in  all  those  branches 
of  human  knowledge  in  which  created  and  finite  sub- 
jects alone  are  involved  ?  But  they  are  not  treated 
as  objections  by  the  mathematician  or  the  philoso- 
pher. The  former  asks  no  question  but,  simply, 
what  is  demonstrated  ?  the  latter,  what  is  proved^ 
either  by  experiment  or  by  testimony?  If  phe- 
nomena be  well  attested,  he  does  not  wait  to  under- 
stand their  cause,  or  mode,  or  effects;  he  does  not 
suspend  belief  till  he  has  harmonized  their  peculi- 
arities with  a  favorite  hypothesis,  or  with  previous 
observations.  Ho  sets  them  down  among  the  truths 
of  science,  and  believes :  taking  for  granted  that 
though  he  may  not  understand  them,  there  is  One 
that  does ;  and  though  he  should  never  discover  the 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  495 

theory  by  which  such  events  are  shown  to  be  in 
agreement  with  all  others,  there  is  still  a  harmony 
which  pervades  ^'  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  and 
under  the  earth." 

Such  is  the  application  of  inductive  philosophy  to 
the  mysteries  of  nature.  Let  the  mysteries  of  reve- 
lation be  treated  with  equal  justice,  and  instead  of 
employing  them  as  objections  to  its  truth,  you  will 
acknowledge  them  as  essential  to  its  nature  and  por- 
tions of  its  glory.* 

But  there  are  many  who  object  to  Christianity, 
not  only  because  they  cannot  understand  the  nature, 
but  because  they  cannot  see  the  reason,  of  certain 
things  contained  in  or  connected  with  it.  For  exam- 
ple, it  is  well  known  that  God  is  gracious  and  mer- 
ciful, and  desireth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  and  that 
he  has  all  power  to  save  whom  he  will ;  and  yet  it  is 
revealed  that  without  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  and 
without  conversion  and  faith,  the  sinner  cannot  be 
saved.  Why,  it  is  asked,  this  circuitous  method,  this 
expense  of  suffering,  when  a  word  from  the  Almighty 
would  save  the  world  ?  An  intelligent  Christian  could . 
give  many  answers  to  this  question  ;  but  what  if  he 
had  none  ?  Would  the  way  of  salvation,  as  revealed 
in  the  gospel,  be  in  any  degree  less  credible  ?  Shall 
we  refuse  to  believe  the  ways  of  G-od  till  he  has  laid 
all  his  reasons  before  us  ?  Why  not  as  well  deny  his 
works  on  the  same  indefensible  ground  ?  Why  be- 
lieve that  a  sick  man  cannot  recover  without  a  tedious 

*  See  an   admirable  article  on  Mysteries  in  Religion;  in 
Gregory's  Letters^  vol.  1. 


496  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

course  of  medicine  ?  God  can  raise  him  with  a  word. 
"Why  cultivate  the  ground,  and  seek  the  mediating 
office  of  the  sun  for  the  raising  and  ripening  of  your 
grain  ?  God  can  load  your  fields  with  harvests  with- 
out such  a  circuitous  process.  Why  his  power  is  not 
exerted  immediately  for  these  purposes,  you  can  no 
more  explain  than  why  a  sinner  cannot  he  saved  but 
by  faith  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  Your  belief  in  the 
importance  of  intermediate  steps  depends  as  little 
upon  the  reasons  of  the  divine  appointments  in  one 
case  as  in  the  other. 

Again,  you  read  that  the  gospel  is  of  inestimable 
importance  to  the  happiness  of  man,  a  wonderful 
exhibition  of  divine  grace  to  sinners,  and  yet  there 
are  hundreds  of  millions  who  have  never  heard  of  it; 
and  it  is  asked.  Why,  since  God  is  infinitely  good 
and  merciful,  as  well  as  mighty,  has  not  such  an 
immeasurable  blessing  been  communicated  to  all  man- 
kind ?  This  question  is  often  put  as  a  strong  objec- 
tion to  the  divine  origin  of  the  gospel.  Were  it 
taught  in  the  Scriptures  that  those  who  had  never  had 
the  gospel  will  be  judged  by  its  light  and  privileges, 
the  objection  would  have  force.  But  there  is  no  such 
doctrine.  The  objection  is  reasonable  only  so  far  as 
there  is  reason  in  a  creature's  requiring  the  Creator 
to  explain  his  ways,  and  admit  him  to  his  councils, 
before  he  will  believe  them.  Does  a  philosopher  stand 
on  such  grounds  ?  Does  he  doubt  the  immense  differ- 
ence between  the  gifts  and  blessings,  the  privileges 
and  improvements,  of  a  native  of  England  and  those  of 
a  savage  of  Kamtschatka,  because  he  knows  not  for 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  497 

what  reason  it  was  so  ordained  ?  Does  he  deny  that 
the  former  are  inestimable,  because  not  universal? 
Will  one  refuse  to  believe  that  he  has  a  mine  of  gold 
in  his  field,  or  that  the  gold  is  worth  his  seeking,  be- 
cause  all  men  are  not  equally  favored  ?  Shall  a  hus- 
bandman despise  the  genial  rain  upon  his  grass  be- 
cause his  neighbor's  fleece  is  dry  ?  If  God  has  not 
seen  fit  to  reveal  the  reasons  for  which  he  has  distrib- 
uted the  gifts  of  nature,  of  providence,  or  of  grace 
with  an  unequal  hand,  I  find  nothing  to  complain  of. 
I  can  still  believe  that  those  gifts  are  from  above,  and 
are  excellent,  and  distributed  under  the  guidance  of 
infinite  wisdom. 

That  there  arc  no  difficulties  connected  with  the 
Scriptures,  and  with  the  doctrines  of  revealed  relig- 
ion, it  would  be  saying  too  much  for  the  intelligence, 
education,  and  study  of  the  general  reader,  to  assert. 
Until  all  shall  be  candid,  studious,  patient,  and  hum- 
ble, some  will  find  many  difficulties  in  Christianity. 
If  a  child,  instead  of  beginning  arithmetic  in  the  ele- 
ments, should  dive  at  once  into  the  midst  of  a  calcu- 
lation of  algebraic  roots  and  powers,  he  would  scarcely 
escape  being  stifled  with  difficulties.  Thus,  how- 
ever,  do  most  objectors  to  Christianity  endeavor  to 
appreciate  its  doctrines.  Instead  of  learning  first  the 
first  principles,  they  plunge  without  ceremony  amidst 
the  deepest  mysteries  of  the  gospel.  It  is  well  said, 
'*  Objections  against  a  thing  fairly  proved  are  of  no 
weight.  The  proof  rests  upon  our  knowledge,  and 
the  objections  upon  our  ignorance.  It  is  true  that 
moral  demonstrations  and  religious  doctrines  may  be 


40b  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

attacked  in  a  very  ingenious  and  plausible  manner, 
because  they  involve  questions  on  which  our  igno- 
rance is  greater  than  our  knowledge ;  but  still,  our 
knowledge  is  knowledge,  or  in  other  words,  certainty 
is  certainty.  In  mathematical  reasoning,  our  know- 
ledge is  greater  than  our  ignorance.  When  you  have 
proved  that  the  three  angles  of  every  triangle  are 
equal  to  two  right  angles,  there  is  an  end  of  doubt, 
because  there  are  no  materials  for  ignorance  to  work 
up  into  phantasms ;  but  your  knowledge  is  really 
no  more  certain  than  your  knowledge  on  any  other 
subject." 

If  it  be  a  valid  objection  to  religion,  that  to  some 
minds  it  presents  difficulties  which  cannot  be  solved, 
then  there  is  no  department  of  human  knowledge 
that  may  not  be  legitimately  condemned.  What  is 
more  certain  than  the  existence  of  a  material  uni- 
verse? or  of  the  necessary  connection  of  cause  and 
effect?  But  even  in  these,  wise  heads  have  succeeded 
in  discovering  difficulties  which  it  would  puzzle  much 
more  sensible  people  to  remove  by  a  process  of  reason- 
ing. That  matter  is  infinitely  divisible,  is  assumed 
in  science  as  fundamentally  certain.  That  the  doc- 
trine, however,  involves  very  great  difficulties,  is  pal- 
pable to  all  common-sense  ;  inasmuch  as,  to  suppose 
a  foot  measure  divided  into  an  infinite  number  of 
parts  requiring  an  infinite  number  of  portions  of  time 
to  pass  over  them,  and  yet  to  be  passed  over  in  a 
moment,  is  to  make  a  moment  infinite,  in  other 
words,  eternal;  for  although  it  should  be  said  that 
the  portions  of  time  would  be  infinitely  small,  still 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  499 

they  would  be  portions  of  time,  and  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  any  portions  of  time  must  make  an  infinite 
duration.  Who  will  pretend  that  in  this  there  is  no 
room  for  perplexity  and  doubt?  In  the  mean  time, 
the  operations  of  science,  in  which  the  infinite  divis- 
ibility of  matter  is  assumed,  proceed  with  as  much 
confidence  as  if  there  were  no  diflSculty  connected 
with  it.* 

Much  is  said  of  the  certainty  of  mathematical  dem- 
onstrations, but  if  difficulties  that  cannot  be  solved 
are  sufficient  objections,  even  here  also  must  sentence 
of  condemnation  be  pronounced.  It  might  be  shown 
how  trifling  are  even  the  definitions  of  geometry,  the 
most  exact  of  all  the  mathematical  sciences.  Its 
definitions  might  be  alleged,  upon  no  inconsiderable 
grounds,  to  be  nonsensical  and  ridiculous;  its  de- 
mands or  postulates,  plainly  impracticable ;  its  axi- 
oms or  self-evident  propositions,  controvertible,  and 
controverted  indeed  even  by  themselves.  But  why 
are  not  these  things  objected  to  the  truth  of  mathe- 
matics ?  "What  is  there  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  more 
encumbered  with  difficulties  ? 

Were  the  dispositions  of  the  human  heart  and  the 
idols  of  a  sinner's  devotion  as  much  opposed  by  the 
demonstrations  of  mathenjatics  as  by  the  doctrines  of 

*  "The  divisibility,  in  infinitum,  of  any  finite  extension, 
involves  us,  whether  we  grant  or  deny  it,  in  consequences  im- 
possible to  be  explicated;  or  made  in  our  apprehensions  con- 
sistent; consequences  that  carry  greater  difficulty,  and  more 
apparent  absurdity,  than  any  thing  that  can  follow  from  the 
notion  of  an  immaterial  substance."  Locke  on  Human  Under- 
standing. 


500  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES.   . 

Christianity,  it  would  be  just  as  difficult  to  convince 
men  of  the  truth  of  the  former  as  of  the  latter.  The 
folly  of  speaking  of  a  something  that  has  length  with- 
out breadth ;  of  a  point  that  has  no  parts ;  of  lines 
for  ever  approaching  and  never  meeting ;  the  futility 
of  basing  a  certain  demonstration  upon  elements  so 
unintelligible  and  impossible,  would  be  trumpeted  to 
the  ends  of  the  world.  The  wicked  might  no  more 
believe  a  proposition  of  geometry,  than  they  will  now 
a  doctrine  of  redemption.  The  scoffer  might  find  as 
much  to  ridicule  in  Newton's  Principia  as  in  Paul's 
epistles.* 

But  we  do  injustice  to  the  good  cause  in  which 
we  are  engaged  by  standing  exclusively  on  the  de- 
fensive. Infidelity  has  too  long  been  indulged  with 
the  privilege  of  attack.  It  is  the  stratagem  of  weak- 
ness, to  put  on  a  bold  front  and  make  a  desperate 
assault.  Any  arm  can  strike,  but  not  every  breast 
can  repel  a  blow.  It  is  high  time  infidelity  were 
accused  and  brought  to  the  bar.  What  proof  of  a 
single  feature  of  doctrine  or  of  moral  principle  can  it 
produce,  after  having  rejected  such  evidence  as  that 
of  Christianity  ?  What  satisfactory  argument  for  the 
obligation  of  any  thing  connected  with  natural  relig- 
ion, what  reason  for  believing  in  a  future  state,  what 
proof  even  of  the  existence  of  God,  can  be  offered  as 
worthy  of  reliance,  without  a  shameful  inconsistency, 
by  men  who,  in  the  immense  power  of  evidence  sus- 

*  See  an  interesting  piece  of  reasoning,  apropos  to  the  above, 
in  one  of  the  tracts  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  entitled 
"  Conversation  w^ith  a  Young  Traveller,"  No.  203. 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  501 

taining  the  divine  authority  of  the  gospel,  can  find 
nothing  to  convince  them  ? 

We  have  shown  that  the  argument  for  Christian- 
ity is  strictly  philosophical,  because  entirely  experi- 
mental. It  might  easily  be  shown  that  every  system 
of  infidelity,  so  far  as  it  pretends  to  any  religious 
doctrine  or  precept,  is  wholly  destitute  of  all  claim  to 
such  a  character.  "What  a  catalogue  of  theoretical 
assertions,  and  unsustained  conjectures,  and  positive 
contradictions,  and  gross  absurdities,  and  inexplicable 
difficulties,  might  be  drawn  up  against  the  most 
rational  of  the  infidel  systems !  The  Deist  professes 
to  believe  that  the  light  of  nature  is  sufficient  for 
human  guidance  in  all  matters  of  moral  obligation; 
and  yet  he  believes,  that  notwithstanding  such  all- 
sufficiency,  some  among  those  who  have  attempted  to 
follow  it  have  contended  for  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  and  others  have  denied  it;  some  have  maintained 
that  God  created  all  things,  others  that  matter  is  as 
much  from  eternity  as  himself;  some,  that  he  gov- 
erns and  will  judge  the  world,  others  that  he  does  not 
concern  himself  about  it;  some,  that  God  should  be 
worshipped,  others  that  all  worship  is  weak  super- 
stition ;  some,  that  virtue  is  virtuous  and  vice  vicious, 
others  that  there  is  no  distinction  in  principle  between 
them,  that  sin  is  but  a  matter  of  custom  and  opinion, 
and  that  the  indulgence  of  the  lowest  passions  is  no 
more  to  be  blamed  than  the  thirst  of  a  fever  or  the 
drowsiness  of  a  lethargy. 

Some  infidels  deny  that  Jesus  ever  lived;  and  yet 
they  believe  that  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews,  bitter 


502  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

enemies  of  Christianity  as  they  have  always  been, 
acknowledge  that  they  put  him  to  death  on  the  cross. 
Some  confess  that  there  was  such  a  person,  but  accuse 
him  of  a  most  barefaced  system  of  fraud  and  impos- 
ture ;  and  yet  they  cannot  but  concede  that  his  char- 
acter was  eminently  pure  and  excellent.  Others,  to 
escape  such  a  contradiction,  maintain  that  he  was  a 
pure,  but  weak  and  visionary  enthusiast;  and  yet 
they  acknowledge  that  he  composed  and  inculcated 
a  system  of  morals  very  far  superior  to  that  of  the 
wisest  of  the  ancient  philosophers.  Infidels  profess  to 
believe  that  the  apostles  of  Christ  were  instigated  by 
mercenary  considerations,  and  yet  that  they  willingly 
suffered  the  loss  of  all  things — by  ambitious  consid- 
eratioas,  and  yet  they  submitted  cheerfully  to  all 
ignominy  and  shame.  According  to  infidels,  they 
were  devoted  to  a  selfish  scheme  of  personal  benefit ; 
and  yet  were  always  going  about  doing  good,  without 
the  least  regard  to  their  own  convenience  or  pleasure. 
They  were  gross  deceivers,  it  is  said;  and  yet  they 
endured  all  sufferings,  and  sacrificed  their  lives,  in 
confirmation  of  their  sincerity.  They  were  weak  fa- 
natics ;  and  yet  the  strongest  and  most  learned  minds 
could  not  resist  the  power  and  wisdom  with  which 
they  spoke.  Infidels  deny  that  Jesus  ever  wrought 
miracles ;  but  cannot  deny  that  his  bitterest  enemies, 
who  had  infinitely  better  opportunities  of  judging  than 
they  can  boast,  confessed  the  contrary.  Infidels  pre- 
tend that  the  prophecies  of  the  Bible  were  nothing 
more  than  guesses,  and  that  all  correspondence  be- 
tween them  and  subsequent  history  was  a  mere  mat- 


SUMMARY  AND  OBJECTIONS.  603 

tor  of  chance ;  and  yet  they  cannot  find,  among  all 
the  guesses  in  the  Bible,  a  single  failure;  nor  can 
they  deny  that  many  of  its  guesses  have  succeeded  in 
the  minutest  particulars,  in  spite  of  a  proportion  of 
chances  against  them  too  great  for  numbers  to  express. 
Infidels  contend  that  the  gospel  is  against  all  reason 
and  common-sense,  as  well  as  truth;  they  laugh  at 
the  efforts  of  modern  apostles  to  convert  the  nations 
of  heathenism  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  as  visionary  and 
fruitless ;  nothing  seems  to  them  more  impossible 
than  that  such  an  enterprise  should  succeed.  And 
yet,  according  to  their  wisdom,  when  only  twelve 
missionaries,  with  none  of  the  education  or  experience, 
or  human  support  and  countenance,  with  none  of  the 
facilities  for  multiplying  books  and  disseminating 
knowledge,  which  modern  laborers  possess — when 
twelve  despised,  persecuted  Jews  undertook  a  similar 
work,  not  among  ignorant  barbarians,  but  polished 
Greeks — and  when,  in  less  than  forty  years,  their 
cause  was  coextensive  with  the  known  world — then 
the  success  which  is  so  impossible  now,  was  noth-  . 
ing  wonderful  or  unaccountable :  it  was  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  human  contrivance  and  enthusiastic  perse- 
verance; the  work  of  men  alone,  and  of^weak,  su- 
perstitious, credulous,  simple,  and  deceitful  men, 
though  the  only  work  of  the  kind  since  the  creation  of 
the  world. 

It  were  easy  to  proceed  much  further  with  this 
array  of  the  contradiction  and  difficulties  into  which 
men  are  necessarily  brought  by  rejecting  the  evidences 
of  Christianity.     But  we  have  said  enough  to  show 


504  ll'ILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

that  if  infidels  were  put  upon  the  defensive  a  little  more 
frequently,  they  would  have  much  less  time  to  be 
creeping,  with  poisoned  arrows,  around  the  outworks 
of  Christianity.  Let  them  point  out,  in  the  belief 
of  the  gospel,  any  thing  like  the  contradictions  and 
absurdities  involved  in  a  profession  of  infidelity,  and 
it  shall  be  renounced  as  unworthy  the  countenance  of 
a  rational  beinor. 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  505 


LECTURE    XIII. 

INSPIRATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  AND  CONCLUDING 
OBSERVATIONS. 

The  external  evidences  of  Christianity,  as  a  sys- 
tem of  faith  divinely  revealed,  we  consider  to  have 
been  closed  with  the  lecture  next  preceding  the  last. 
On  that  subject  we  shall  offer  no  additional  argument. 
But  there  remains  one  very  important  matter  of  in- 
quiry. 

Christianity  and  the  Scriptures  are  essentially 
associated.  Without  the  latter,  we  should  not  have 
received  the  former.  But  however  inseparable  in  the 
use  of  their  benefits,  they  are  quite  distinct  in  the 
proof  of  their  infallible  origin.  It  is  one  thing  to 
show  that  the  doctrines  taught  in  the  Scriptures  are 
divine,  and  another,  that  the  books  containing  those 
doctrines  are  divine.  The  former,  we  think,  has  been 
fully  established.  The  latter  has  not  yet  been  at- 
tempted. We  have  proved  that  the  books  of  Scrip- 
ture are  authentic  and  credible,  the  works  of  the 
authors  whose  names  they  bear,  and  correct  narra- 
tives of  such  matters  of  fact  as  they  profess  to  relate. 
But  were  we  to  stop  here,  we  should  leave  the  Bible 
on  a  level,  in  point  of  authority,  with  many  other 
books  of  the  Christian  religion  which  contain  the 
truth,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  contain  nothing 

K\'idencet.  22 


506  M'lLVAINES  EVIDENCES. 

else,  and  yet  have  no  pretension  to  any  other  than  a 
human  origin.  In  this  case,  we  should  have  no  ulti- 
mate and  sure  appeal  for  either  doctrine  or  duty ;  a 
door  would  be  open  for  all  manner  of  interference,  on 
the  part  of  "man's  wisdom,"  for  the  perversion  and 
corruption  of  the  truth;  the  most  essential  features 
of  the  gospel,  on  the  easy  plea  that  the  apostles  being 
men  may  sometimes  have  misunderstood  their  Master, 
would  be  accessible  to  the  most  ruinous  suspicions  of 
overstatement  or  misconception. 

We  have  need  not  only  of  a  divine  system  of  re- 
ligion, but  of  a  divine  Teacher  of  that  system.  The 
latter  was  possessed  by  the  apostles  in  the  person  of 
Christ,  while  he  continued  with  them;  and  subse- 
quently in  the  special  presence  and  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Saviour  promised  as  a  Com- 
forter to  lead  them  into  all  truth.  In  place  of  the 
privileges  thus  possessed,  what  remains  to  which  may 
confidently  be  referred  every  question  of  religious 
doctrine  and  duty,  and  by  which  our  minds  may  be 
safely  led  to  the  whole  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  ?  Are 
the  Scriptures  iiifallible?  in  other  words,  are  they 
divine?  Have  they  been  ^' given  by  inspiration  of 
God?'^'^  This  bring  us  at  once  to  the  main  point  of 
the  present  lecture,  the  inspiration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures— a  subject  which,  however  eminently  impor- 
tant, has  had  so  much  done,  preparatory  to  its  con- 
sideration, in  our  previous  lectures,  that  it  need  not 
occupy  at  present  a  large  portion  of  your  time. 

The  distinct  proposition  to  which  your  attention 
is  called,  I  would  express  partly  in  th§  language  of 


.    INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  507 

St.  Peter:  The  Scriptures  came  not  by  the  will  of 
man;  but  holy  men  of  God  wrote  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  or  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  ''  All 
scripture  is  give^i  by  inspiration  of  God,'''' 

By  inspiration  is  understood,  '*sueh  a  communi- 
cation by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  minds  of  the  sacred 
writers,  of  those  things  which  could  not  have  been 
otherwise  known,  and  such  an  effectual  superintend- 
ency  as  to  those  particulars  concerning  which  they 
might  otherwise  obtain  information,  as  sufficed  abso- 
lutely to  preserve  them  from  every  degree  of  error  in 
all  things  which  could  in  the  least  affect  any  of  the 
doctrines  or  precepts  contained  in  their  writings,  or 
mislead  any  person  who  considered  them  as  a  divine 
and  infalUble  standard  of  truth  and  duty." 

This  definition  is  perfectly  consistent  with  what 
a  critic  would  regard  as  a  fault  of  style  in  a  book  of 
Scripture;  or  a  philosopher,  as  scientifically  inaccu- 
rate;  or  a  rhetorician,  as  a  departure  from  the  rules 
of  rhetorical  writing.  It  is  entirely  compatible  with 
the  evident  fact  of  the  several  authors  having  written 
in  such  various  idioms  and  styles  as  their  respective 
talents,  habits,  associations,  or  circumstances  ren- 
dered most  easy  and  natural;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  it  places  all  the  sacred  writers,  however  various 
their  modes  and  minds,  on  the  same  footing  of  divine 
authority,  and  gives  to  all  portions  of  the  Bible  an 
equal  claim  to  be  received  as  the  oracles  of  God. 
Thus,  over  the  just  interpretation  of  each  single  verse, 
is  written,  infallibility. 

In  examining  into  the  degree  of  authority  to  be 


508  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

attached  to  the  Scriptures,  we  are  favored  with  a  very- 
direct  appeal.  We  may  go  to  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves. Having  already  established  their  credibility, 
we  have  a  full  warrant  to  depend  on  them  for  a  true 
statement  of  the  words  of  the  Saviour  and  his  apos- 
tles. Having  established  also  the  fundamental  doc- 
trine, that  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles  were  divinely 
sent  and  attested,  we  have  a  right  to  rely  implicitly 
on  their  words,  as  truth  divinely  sealed  and  certified. 
Our  way,  therefore,  is  plain.  We  must  search  the 
Scriptures  for  any  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  of  his 
apostles  concerning  the  subject  before  us.  We  have 
but  one  question  to  answer:  Does  the  New  Testa- 
ment  bear  witness  that  the  several  books  composing 
the  Bible  ivere  treated  or  represented  by  the  Saviour 
or  his  apostles  as  divinely  inspired?  This  deter- 
mined in  the  affirmative,  the  inspiration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures is  decided,  until  the  whole  argument  of  the  pre- 
ceding lectures  shall  be  proved  inconclusive.  Let  us 
divide  the  question,  and  begin  our  inquiry  with, 

I.  The  Old  Testament  scriptures. 

1.  It  is  undeniable  that  the  Saviour  and  his 
apostles  regarded  the  Old  Testament  with  at  least  as 
much  reverence  as  did  the  Jews  in  their  day.  They 
reproved  the  latter  for  many  errors  of  doctrine  and  of 
practice;  for  mutilating  the  Scriptures  by  false  in- 
terpretations, and  for  making  them  of  none  effect 
through  their  traditions ;  but  nowhere  do  we  read  the 
least  insinuation  of  their  having  censured  the  Jews 
for  paying  too  much  respect  to  the  Scriptures,  or  for 
allowing  them  too  much  authority.     On  the  contrary, 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  509 

they  evidently  joined  in  most  earnestly  with  the  Jew- 
ish mind  on  this  subject ;  and  instead  of  attempting 
to  unsettle,  aimed  directly  at  increasing  its  habit  of 
implicit  submission  to  the  Old  Testament  writings. 
But  had  the  Jews  been  erroneous  in  that  high  degree 
of  reverence  with  which  they  regarded  those  sacred 
books,  such  countenance  and  example  on  the  part  of 
our  Lord  and  his  ambassadors  could  not  have  been 
shown,  consistently  with  the  perfect  truth  and  open- 
ness which  marked  all  their  dealings. 

Now  be  it  observed,  that  the  Jews  in  the  time  of 
Christ  considered  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament 
as  divinely  inspired,  not  merely  in  respect  to  their 
doctrines,  but  their  whole  matter  and  substance. 
Josephus  says,  that  in  his  time  they  were  universally 
believed  to  have  been  written  by  men  "as  they 
learned  them  of  G-od  himself  by  inspiration,"  and 
were  justly  believed  to  be  *^  divine."  He  draws  a 
wide  distinction  between  the  histories  of  the  Jewish 
people  which  were  written  since  the  time  of  Artaxerxes, 
and  those  contained  in  the  Bible,  and  gives  as  a  rea- 
son why  the  former  had  not  been  received  as  having 
so  much  authority  as  the  latter,  that  since  Artaxerxes 
there  had  not  been  a  succession  of  inspired  men, 
"How  firmly  we  have  given  credit,"  he  says,  "to 
these  books  of  our  own  nation,  is  evident  from  what 
we  do;  for  during  so  many  ages  as  have  already 
passed,  no  one  hath  been  so  bold  as  either  to  add  any 
thing  to  them,  to  take  any  thing  from  them,  or  to 
make  any  change  in  them;  but  it  is  become  natural 
to  all  Jews,  immediately  and  from  their  very  birth,  to 


510  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

esteem  those  books  to  contain  divine  doctrines,  and  to 
persist  in  them,  and  if  occasion  be,  willingly  to  die 
for  them."*  Hence,  we  see  that  Jesus  and  his  apos- 
tles, in  coinciding  with,  and  in  employing  and  pro- 
moting the  current  sentiment  of  the  Jewish  people  in 
their  days,  must  be  considered  as  having,  really  and 
in  the  broadest  sense,  espoused  and  confirmed  the 
doctrine  of  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament 
scriptures. 

2.  But  unanswerable  as  is  the  above  attestation, 
we  have  a  direct  assertion  on  the  part  of  St.  Paul 
of  still  greater  importance.  Having  reminded  Tim- 
othy, that  from  a  child  he  had  known  ^^the  holy 
Scriptures,"  which  were  able  to  make  him  wise  unto 
salvation  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  he  makes 
this  positive  and  conclusive  declaration:  **A11  Scrip- 
ture is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable 
for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction 
in  righteousness:  that  the  man  of  Grod  may  be  per- 
fect, thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works."^ 

Here  then  is  the  plain  testimony  of  one  whose 
knowledge  and  veracity  we  have  ascertained,  that 
whatever  in  his  time  was  included  under  the  name 
of  *' Scripture,"  or  **holy  Scriptures,"  was  of  divine 
inspiration.  We  have  only  to  ask,  therefore,  to  what 
books  Paul  applied  that  name.  It  was  a  name  of 
common  use  in  his  day.  Josephus  and  Philo  fre- 
quently speak  of  **the  divine  Scriptures,"  and  ^'the 
holy  Scriptures."  It  is  manifest,  therefore,  that  Paul 
meant  to  be  understood  as  asserting  the  divine  in- 

*  Cont.  Apion,  b.  1,  sec.  7,8.  t  2  Tim.  3  :  15-17. 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  511 

spiratioii  of  that  collection  of  sacred  books  to  which 
the  Jews  notoriously  applied  such  names;  in  other 
words,  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  He  regard- 
ed them  all  as  ''Scripture."  He  declared  them  all 
inspired. 

Now,  that  under  the  same  title  we  have  the  same 
collection  of  writings  is  certain,  not  only  from  the 
important  fact,  that  on  this  head  there  is  a  perfect 
agreement  between  our  Bibles  and  those  of  the  whole 
Jewish  nation  at  the  present  day ;  but  also  from  the 
testimony  of  Josephus,  who,  although  he  has  not 
mentioned  the  names  of  the  several  books  considered 
as  Scripture  in  his  time,  has  given  us  their  number, 
and  so  described  them  that  their  identity  with  ours 
cannot  be  mistaken.  He  takes  care  to  speak  of  them 
"as  of  divine  authority."*  In  addition  to  this,  we 
have  the  testimony  of  the  New  Testament  as  to  the 
canon  of  the  Old.  For  besides  the  books  of  Moses, 
which  the  former  expressly  mentions  as  of  divine  au- 
thority, it  also  specifies  almost  all  the  other  books  of 
our  Old  Testament  as  belonging,  in  the  time  of  Christ, 
to  the  sacred  canon  of  the  Jews.  Some  are  omitted, 
only  because  the  mentioning  of  any  is  incidental. 
Nothing  but  a  formal  enumeration  can  be  expected  to 
be  complete.  That  none  are  excepted  against,  is 
proof  that  all  were  received  by  the  Lord  and  his 
apostles. 

Hence,  we  are  fully  warranted  to  believe  that  "  all 
Scripture,"  in  the  mouth  of  St.  Paul,  meant  all  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  which  Jews  and  Chris- 
*  Cont.  Apion,  b.  1,  sec.  8. 


512  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

tians  at  present  unite  in  receiving  as  divine  oracles ; 
consequently  we  have  apostolic  authority  in  proof  that 
they  were  all  ''given  by  inspiration  of  God." 

Much  additional  evidence  to  the  same  point  might 
be  lidded ;  but  with  any  who  acknowledge  the  argu- 
ment of  the  previous  lectures,  and  thence  believe  that 
whatever  St.  Paul  asserted  as  a  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tianity is  true,  the  above  simple  reasoning  will  be 
amply  sufficient  for  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Old 
Testament. 

II.  Let  us  proceed  to  the  second  division  of  our 
subject,  and  carry  our  inquiry  to  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament. 

1.  The  inspiration  of  the  New  Testament  maij 
be  naturally  and  reasonably  inferred  from  that  of 
the  Old.  In  this  we  argue  by  analogy.  No  reason 
can  be  given  why  those  holy  men  of  old  who  composed 
the  books  of  the  other  Testament,  should  have  writ- 
ten, not  *'by  the  will  of  man,"  but  ''as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  that  does  not  apply  with 
much  greater  force  to  the  writers  of  the  later  volume. 
The  economy  of  the  Old  Testament  was  to  cease  at 
the  advent  of  Christ ;  that  of  the  New  will  endure  to 
the  end  of  the  world.  The  former  was  intended 
primarily  for  a  single  nation,  and  adapted  to  a  coun- 
try of  narrow  boundaries.  The  latter  was  framed  to 
include  all  nations,  and  is  intended  of  God  to  be 
coextensive  with  the  globe.  The  law  had  only  "  a 
shadow  of  good  things  to  come ;"  the  gospel  has 
"  the  very  image  of  the  things :"  the  first  was  a  sys- 
tem of  types,  "  which  stood  only  in  meats  and  drinks 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  613 

and  divers  washings  and  carnal  ordinances  imposed 
until  the  time  of  reformation ;"  the  second,  the  thne 
of  reformation  being  come,  is  a  system  of  direct  reve- 
lation; the  veil  has  been  rent  in  twain,  so  that  it 
may  be  said,  in  comparison  with  the  previous  dis- 
pensation, that  we  no  longer  see  **  through  a  glass 
dafkly,  but  face  to  face."  One  grand  distinction  of 
the  economy  of  the  gospel  is,  that  it  is  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Spirit,  That  peculiar  feature  in  which 
its  covenant  is  "  a  better  covenant  established  upon 
better  promises" — **  a  new  covenant" — is  found  in 
this,  that  it  is  a  spiritual  covenant ;  its  promises, 
its  privileges,  its  duties,  its  parties,  are  all  spiritual. 
Its  character  in  this  respect  is  seen  in  that  stipula- 
tion of  its  divine  Author :  *'  I  will  put  my  laws  into 
their  mind^  and  write  them  in  their  hearts.''^  So 
much,  therefore,  does  this  "  ministration  of  righteous- 
ness exceed  in  glory"  all  that  preceded  it,  that 
although  there  had  never  risen,  under  the  Old  Testa- 
ment system,  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist,  yet  *'  he 
that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  Grod,"  that  is,  under 
the  New  Testament  system,  **  is  greater  than  he." 

Now,  is  it  supposable.  that  under  a  dispensation 
so  limited  in  extent  and  duration  as  that  of  the 
law,  so  carnal  in  its  ordinances,  so  obscure  in  its 
revelations,  serving  only  ^^unto  the  example  and  shad- 
ow of  heavenly  things,"  the  sacred  books  should 
have  been  given  by  inspiration  of  Grod  ;  and  yet,  that 
under  the  far  better  covenant  of  the  gospel,  designed 
for  all  mankind  and  to  stand  while  the  world  endures — 
a  dispensation  so  eminently  distinguished  for  the  out- 
22* 


614  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

pouring  of  the  Spirit,  for  the  spiritual  gifts  of  its 
earliest  ministers,  and  the  spiritual  duties  and  bless- 
ings of  all  its  members — we  should  be  left  to  a  stand- 
ard of  truth  and  duty  dictated  only  by  the  wisdom, 
composed  only  under  the  superintending  care  of  fal- 
lible men  ?  Surely  the  inspiration  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  naturally  and  reasonably  inferred  from  that 
of  the  Old. 

2.  The  same  conclusion  necessarily  arises  froitt 
the  evident  inspiration  of  the  apostles  in  their 
preaching  and  other  official  actions.  It  was  ex- 
pressly promised  by  the  Lord,  that  when  they  should 
stand  before  enemies  in  defence  of  the  gospel,  they 
should  speak  by  inspiration  of  God.  In  such  circum- 
stances their  direction  was,  *'  Take  no  thought  how 
or  what  ye  shall  speak.  For  it  is  not  ye  that  speak, 
but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father  which  speaketh  in 
you."  '*  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  teach  you  in  that 
same  hour  what  ye  ought  to  say."  ^*  I  will  give  you 
a  mouth  and  wisdom,  which  all  your  adversaries 
shall  not  be  able  to  gainsay  nor  resist."*  We  have 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  these  promises  of  inspira- 
tion were  confined  to  the  special  circumstances  re- 
ferred to  in  the  passages  above  quoted.  The  apostles 
were  to  be  placed  in  many  others  for  which  they 
would  be  quite  as  needful.  Certain  circumstances 
were  particularly  spoken  of  by  the  Lord,  because  in 
them  the  faith  of  his  apostles  would  be  particularly 
tried. 

But  inspiration  was  promised  by  the  Saviour,  in 
*  Mat.  10:19,  20;  Luke  12:  12;  21:15. 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  515 

terms  of  the  most  comprehensive  kind.  A  little  be- 
fore his  crucifixion,  when  the  hearts  of  his  disciples 
were  greatly  troubled  at  the  assurance  that  he  was 
soon  to  be  taken  from  them,  he  promised  to  send 
them  a  Comforter,  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  should  abide 
with  them  for  ever.  This  blessed  person  he  called 
repeatedly  **  the  Spirit  of  truth."  He  was  distinctly 
promised  to  the  apostles  as  a  substitute  in  all  re- 
spects for  the  presence,  the  guidance,  the  instruc- 
tions of  their  Lord  himself.  The  great  consolation 
of  such  a  substitute  consisted  in  his  being  to  the 
apostles,  invisibly,  just  what  Jesus  had  been  to  them 
visibly ;  so  that  they  might  consider  themselves  to 
be  divinely  directed  and  instructed  under  his  influ- 
ence, in  a  manner  quite  as  direct  and  infallible  as  if 
they  had  still  the  Master's  voice  to  hear  and  his  foot- 
steps to  follow.  They  were  assured  that  '*  the  Spirit 
of  truth"  would  teach  them  whatever  knowledge 
their  duties  might  require.  "  He  shall  teach  you  all 
things."  *'He  will  lead  you  into  all  truth."  Had 
they  forgotten  any  portion  of  their  Lord's  instruc- 
tions ?  **  The  Spirit  of  truth,"  said  he,  "  shall  bring 
all  things  to  your  remembrance  whatsoever  I  have 
said  unto  you."  *'  He  shall  take  of  mine,  and  shall 
show  it  unto  you."  Even  the  knowledge  of  the 
future  was  promised  to  the  apostles  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Holy  Ghost.  '^  He  will  show  you  things 
to  come."  They  were  directed  to  tarry  in  Jerusa- 
lem after  his  death,  until  they  should  receive  "  power 
from  on  high."  Now  all  these  promises  are  positive 
proofs  that  the  apostles  were  inspired  in  their  min- 


516  M'lLVAlNE'S  EVIDENCES. 

istry  as  soon  as  their  fulfilment  took  place.  Thus, 
when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  fully  come,  and  the 
Spirit  descended  upon  them,  "  they  were  all  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  ^^  began  to  speak  as  the 
Spirit  gave  them  utterance.*'  By  this  inspiration 
they  were  enabled  to  preach  in  all  languages  the 
wonderful  works  of  God.  The  sermon  of  Peter  on 
that  day  was  spoken  under  this  influence.  By  the 
same  help  he  discerned  the  spirit  of  Ananias  and 
Sapphira.  Their  lie  was  unto  the  Holy  Ghost,  inas- 
much as  it  was  unto  one  whom  the  Holy  Ghost 
inspired.  Directed  by  the  same  Spirit,  Peter  jour- 
neyed from  Joppa  to  the  house  of  Cornelius,  and 
first  opened  the  door  of  faith  to  the  Gentiles.  Paul, 
by  inspiration,  went  forth  on  his  mission  from  Anti- 
och  to  the  lesser  Asia  ;  being  ''  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  he  searched  the  conscience  of  Elymas  the 
sorcerer,  and  punished  his  wickedness  with  blindness. 
When  the  apostles  and  elders  and  brethren  were 
assembled  in  council  about  the  question  sent  up 
from  Antioch  for  their  decision,  they  consulted  and 
determined  as  they  were  guided  by  inspiration  of 
God.  *^  It  seemeth  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,"  was  the 
solemn  sanction  annexed  to  their  sentence.  They 
claimed  to  be  always  received  as  inspired.  Their 
speech  and  their  preaching,  they  asserted,  were  ^'in 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit ;"  "not  in  the  words  which 
man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
teacheth."  It  is  expressly  declared  by  St.  Peter,  that 
his  brethren  and  himself  "preached  fhe  gospel  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven."     All  these 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  517 

statements,  and  many  others  which  might  be  ad- 
duced, abundantly  confirm  the  position,  that  the 
apostles  in  their  preaching  and  other  official  action9 
were  in  the  highest  sense  insjrired. 

Hence  it  would  seem  to  be  very  naturally  and 
reasonably  inferred,  that  when  they  wrote  for  the 
permanent  guidance  of  the  churches  they  were  in- 
spired also.  Can  it  be  supposed  that  St.  Paul,  in 
preaching  to  the  Ephesians  or  Corinthians,  spoke  as 
he  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  yet  was 
entirely  bereft  of  that  divine  aid  when  he  sat  down 
to  the  much  more  important  work  of  composing 
epistles  to  those  churches  ?  "When  it  is  considered 
how  entirely  all  the  oral  communications  of  the  apos- 
tles ceased  to  be  remembered  in  a  short  time  after 
they  were  uttered,  except  as  they  were  recorded  in 
the  Scriptures,  and  how  their  written  communica- 
tions to  the  churches  have  remained  unmutilated 
these  eighteen  hundred  years,  and  are  now  circulated 
in  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  languages, 
and  will  continue  to  be  the  guide  and  treasure  of  the 
church  to  the  end  of  the  world,  can  it  be  believed 
that  in  these  the  apostles  were  left  to  their  own 
fallible  wisdom,  though  guided  in  the  others  by  the 
inspiration  of  God  ?  Such  an  opinion  would  be  ab- 
surd in  the  extreme. 

It  seems  to  be  a  necessary  conclusion,  from  the 
above  premises,  that  the  authors  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment were  divinely  inspired,  as  well  when  writing 
for  all  people  and  all  ages,  as  when  speaking  to  the 
congregation  of  a  single  synagogue. 


618  MILVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

3.  If  the  apostles  did  not  intend  to  impress  the 
church  with  a  belief  that  they  wrote  by  divine  in- 
spiration, they  adopted  the  very  means  that  were 
most  likely  to  lead  its  members  into  a  most  impor- 
tant heresy.  St.  Paul,  in  an  epistle  to  Timothy, 
which  he  knew  would  be  universally  circulated,  pub- 
lished the  broad  assertion,  ''  All  Scripture  is  given  by 
inspiration  of  God."  Now  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that 
the  epistle  containing  this  declaration  is  generally 
supposed  to  have  been  written  after  all  the  other 
works  of  St.  Paul,  and  but  a  short  time  before  his 
martyrdom  at  Rome.  At  any  rate  it  was  one  of  his 
latest  works.  The  gospel  of  St.  Matthew  had  been 
written  and  circulated  at  least  twenty  years.  Those 
by  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  were  already  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  churches.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles.  We  know  of  no  part  of  the 
whole  New  Testament  that  was  written  subsequently 
to  the  uttering  of  the  above  declaration,  except  the 
gospel,  epistles,  and  Revelation  by  St.  John. 

In  connection  with  this  be  it  observed,  that  when 
the  primitive  Christians  received  an  epistle  or  gospel 
from  one  of  the  apostles  or  evangelists,  they  regarded 
it  as  a  portion  of  Holt/  Scriptu7'e.  By  this  familiar 
name  it  was  universally  known,  and  with  this  high 
honor  it  was  always  treated.  Precisely  as  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  speak  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  calling  them  the  Scriptures,  do  th«  Chris- 
tian writers  who  were  contemporaneous  with  the  apos- 
tles continually  quote  their  books.  This  cannot  be 
questioned.     Then  consider  the  circumstances  of  the 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  519 

churches.  They  have  in  possession  and  in  daily  use 
a  number  of  writings  which  have  been  sent  them  by 
the  apostles  and  evangelists,  the  greater  part  of  them 
by  St.  Paul  himself  It  is  well  known  to  the  latter 
that  those  writings  are  universally  revered  and  read 
as  hohj  Scriptures.  In  these  circumstances  he  de- 
clares that  ^'  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
Grod."  How  are  they  to  understand  him?  Shall 
they  say,  he  speaks  in  that  passage  only  of  the 
Jewish  Scriptures  ?  His  primary  reference  was  un- 
questionably to  them.  But  in  what  sense  can  his 
assertion  be  true  of  all  Scripture,  if  so  large  a  part 
as  that  comprising  the  New  Testament,  and  which 
was  universally  denominated  Scripture^  came  only 
"  by  the  will  of  man  ?"  But  this  is  not  all  that  the 
apostles  did  to  promote  the  belief  of  the  inspiration  of 
their  writings. 

The  Christian  churches  were  accustomed  to  ap- 
peal to  the  Old  Testament  as  an  inspired  volume.  A 
large  number  of  their  members  had  been  educated  in 
the  Jewish  faith,  and  by  habit,  as  well  as  reflection, 
always  associated  the  idea  of  divine  inspiration  with 
that  of  a  book  of  Scripture.  Consequently,  when  the 
writings  of  the  New  Testament  were  received,  when 
they  came  to  occupy,  in  regard  to  the  Christian  church, 
a  corresponding  place  to  that  of  the  Old  Testanicnt 
books  in  regard  to  the  Jewish  church,  when  they 
were  honored  by  universal  consent  with  the  same 
title  of  "holy  Scriptures"  as  was  applied  to  the  sacred 
books  of  the  former  dispensation,  it  was  extremely 
natural  that  the  churches  should  treat  them  precisely 


62Q  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

as  they  treated  the  older  books,  and  believe  them 
also  to  have  been  written  by  inspiration  of  Grod.  That 
they  did  thus  regard  them  is  indisputable.  Clement 
bishop  of  Rome,  a  contemporary  of  the  apostles,  says, 
'*Look  into  the  holy  Scriptures,  which  are  the  true 
words  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Take  the  epistle  of  the 
blessed  Paul  the  apostle  into  your  hands:  verily  he  did 
by  the  Spirit  admonish  you."  The  primitive  Chris- 
tians rejected  from  the  canon  of  Scripture  certain 
books,  because,  though  true  and  edifying,  they  were 
not  inspired  by  the  Holy  Grhost.  They  habitually 
spoke  of  the  New  Testament,  as  *'the  word  of  Grod," 
*'the  voice  of  God,"  '^the  oracles  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Now,  in  such  circumstances,  how  would  the  apos- 
tles, as  men  of  common  honesty  and  candor,  have 
acted,  in  case  they  did  not  consider  their  writings  to 
be  inspired  ?  Knowing  the  natural  tendency  and  the 
actual  state  of  public  opinion  among  the  churches, 
could  they  have  been  even  silent  on  this  subject? 
Must  they  not  have  warned  their  disciples  against  a 
disposition  so  dangerous,  and  a  heresy  so  conspicuous? 
Would  not  the  most  ordinary  measure  of  humility  and 
faithfulness  have  impelled  them  to  draw  the  line  of 
distinction  too  plainly  to  be  mistaken,  between  what 
they  had  written  by  their  own  wisdom,  and  what  holy 
men  of  old  had  written  *^  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  ?"  What  course  do  they  pursue  ?  Not 
only  do  they  allow  the  natural  disposition  of  those 
accustomed  to  attach  inspiration  to  the  Scripture  to 
have  its  way;  not  only  do  they  say  nothing  having 
the  least  tendency  to  correct  the  universal  impression 


INSPIRATION   OF  SCRIPTURE.  521 

of  the  churches  on  so  vital  a  point;  but  they  adopt 
the  very  course  which  was  calculated  directly  to 
confirm  all  their  prepossessions.  They  introduce  their 
writings  in  a  manner  of  authority  precisely  similar 
to  that  of  the  inspired  men  of  older  times.  Witness 
the  beginning  of  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians:  *'Paul, 
an  apostle,  not  of  men,  neither  by  man,  but  by  Jesus 
Christ,  and  God  the  Father,  who  raised  him  from  the 
dead,  unto  the  churches  of  Galatia."  Peter,  speaking 
of  the  epistles  of  Paul  as  familiarly  known  among 
Christians,  expressly  numbers  them  among  ^'the 
Scriptures,''  and  puts  them  upon  a  level  with  ''  the 
other  Scriptures,"*  which  Jews  and  Christians  alike 
considered  to  have  been  written  by  inspiration.  Paul 
speaks  of  the  writings  of  the  *^  apostles  and  prophets," 
as  constituting  together  that  good  foundation  on  which 
Christians  were  built,  *' Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
chief  corner-stone."^  And  after  Peter  has  particularly 
included  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  among  the  Scriptures, 
the  latter  publishes  his  declaration,  that  "a//  Scrip- 
ture is  given  by  inspiration  of  God." 

If  those  holy  men  did  not  intend  to  promote  the 
belief  of  the  inspiration  of  their  writings — if  they 
were  desirous  of  teaching  the  churches  to  make  a 
wide  distinction  between  their  works,  as  merely  hu- 
man and  fallible,  and  those  of  Moses  and  the  proph- 
ets, as  divine  and  infallible,  how  singularly  did  they 
mistake  the  way;  how  exactly  did  they  inculcate 
what  they  wished  to  contradict,  and  build  up  what 
they  were  bound  to  destroy ! 

*  2  Pet.  3:16.  t  Eph.  2:20. 


522  MULVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

In  what  manner  the  primitive  churches  under- 
stood their  instructions  is  manifest ;  and  on  the  sup- 
position that  the  apostles  taught  that  their  writings 
were  not  inspired^  it  forms  a  singular  proof  of  the 
great  obscurity  with  which  they  must  have  expressed 
themselves.  Justin  Martyr,  a  contemporary  with  St. 
John,  says  that  '^the  gospels  were  written  by  men 
full  of  the  Holy  G-host."  Irenseus,  a  few  years  later, 
declares  that  *'the  Scriptures  were  dictated  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  that  therefore  it  is  wickedness  to 
contradict  them,  and  sacrilege  to  alter  them."  ''  The 
gospel,"  he  says,  "was  first  preached,  and  afterwards 
by  the  will  of  God  committed  to  writing,  that  it 
might  be  for  time  to  come  the  foundation  and  pillar 
of  our  faith." 

Enough,  it  is  believed,  has  now  been  exhibited  to 
satisfy  any  reasonable  mind  that  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  their 
blessed  Master,  that  the  church  should  regard  their 
works  as  having  been  dictated  and  rendered  infallible 
by  divine  inspiration.  To  those  who  acknowledge 
that  Christ  and  his  apostles  were  commissioned  and 
taught  of  God,  this  is  perfect  evidence  of  the  great 
doctrine  at  which  we  have  been  arriving.  For  those 
who,  after  all  that  has  been  said  in  our  preceding 
lectures,  shall  still  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  Lord 
Jesus  and  his  apostles  as  divinely  commissioned  and 
endowed,  we  have  no  more  argument.  Much  addi- 
tional reasoning  might  be  offered;  but  such  is  the 
conclusiveness  of  what  has  been  adduced,  that  it  may 
be  said  without  presumption,  if  they  believe  not  upon 


CONCLUDINa  OBSERVATIONS.  523 

such  cvidcDce,  ^*  neither  would  they  be  persuaded 
though  one  rose  from  the  dead."* 

We  may  now  conclude  a  course  of  lectures,  which 
has  already  extended  far  beyond  the  anticipations  of 
the  author.  Having  arrived  at  the  divine  authority 
of  Christianity,  and  the  divine  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures,  we  have  not  only  a  religion  revealed 
from  God^  but  an  infallible' expression  of  its  doc^ 
trines  and  duties.  We  have  the  guide,  as  well  as  the 
way  to  everlasting  life,  both  equally  certain,  equally 
divine. 

Let  us  be  thankful  for  such  unspeakable  gifts. 
Next  to  the  mercy  of  a  Saviour,  able  and  ready  '*  to 
save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God  by  Him," 
is  the  book  of  the  inspiration  of  God,  which,  as  a 
lamp  to  our  feet  and  a  light  to  our  path,  conducts  to 
such  a  Friend,  and  teaches  us  without  mistake  all 
that  we  must  do  to  be  saved. 

Let  us  consider  our  obligation  to  study  this  blessed 
book  with  most  serious  attention  and  care.  What 
can  be  more  ungrateful,  more  disobedient,  more  sin- 
ful in  the  sight  of  God,  than  the  total  neglect  or  the 
careless  reading  of  a  volume  which  his  own  Spirit 
indited  for  our  express  guidance  and  consolation? 
*^  Search  the  Scriptures,"  is  the  injunction  as  well  of 
our  reason  as  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  ^^Let  the  word  of 
Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom,"  is  a  com- 

*  For  a  much  more  extended  and  able  view  of  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  New  Testament,  see  Dick  on  the  Inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  Lectures" on  the  same  by  Leonard  Woods,  D.  D., 
Andover. 


524  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

mand  as  delightful  in  its  obedience,  as  it  is  authori- 
tative in  its  declaration. 

Let  us  yield  implicit  submission  to  the  decisions 
of  the  Scriptures.  In  them  we  read  the  oracles  of 
G-od — the  mind  of  the  Spirit — infallible  wisdom.  As 
inspired  pages,  their  authority  is  absolute.  It  is  plain 
duty,  therefore,  to  bring  every  question  of  truth  or 
practice  to  their  judgment;  and  to  bow,  without  a 
question  or  a^raurmur,  or  the  least  reserve  of  mind 
or  heart,  to  whatever  they  require.  To  proceed  on 
any  other  principle,  to  bring  any  thoughts  of  ours 
into  the  least  competition  with  the  decision  of  the 
Scriptures,  to  submit  to  one  portion  of  the  Bible  more 
than  to  another,  to  withhold  assent  to  any  of  its  doc- 
trines till  we  can  fully  perceive  their  necessity  or 
reasonableness,  or  their  consistency  with  certain  no- 
tions of  human  wisdom,  is  a  practical  denial  of  the 
divine  authority  of  the  whole  volume,  and  deserves 
no  other  name  than  that  of  unbelief. 

Let  us  search  the  Scriptures  daily ;  for  they  were 
made  to  be  daily  *^  profitable  for  doctrine,  reproof,  cor- 
rection, and  instruction  in  righteousness."  It  is  only 
when  taken  a^^  un  intimate  companion  and  friend, 
that  the  Bible  throws  off  its  reserve  and  appears  in 
all  its  excellence.  Then  it  speaks  to  the  heart,  and 
begins  to  develope  treasures  of  consolation  as  numer- 
ous as  the  wants  of  sinners,  as  endless  as  the  grace  of 
their  Saviour.  We  can  well  perceive  the  hand  of 
God  in  the  general  construction  of  Christianity,  while 
standing  without,  and  looking  only  upon  its  walls 
and  bulwarks;  but,  like  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  we 


CONCLUDINa  OBSERVATIONS.  525 

must  enter  within  the  holy  place  to  ".behold  the  fair 
beauty  of  the  sanctuary,"  the  fine  gold  of  its  work- 
manship, and  the  glory  of  Him  **who  dwelleth  be- 
tween the  cherubim."  "The  secret  of  the  Lord  is 
with  them  that  fear  him ;  and  he  will  show  them  his 
covenant." 

Let  us  search  the  Scriptures  with  prayer — "pray- 
ing always  with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the 
Spirit,"  that  we  may  be  "filled  with  the  knowledge 
of  his  will  in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual  understanding." 
The  key  of  the  ark,  in  which  are  laid  up  the  tables  of 
testimony,  is  prayer.  By  this  alone  can  we  get  into 
"the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,"  and  be  taught 
of  God.  He  who  without  prayer  should  seek  to  enter 
within  the  veil,  and  obtain  a  view  of  the  divine  glory 
as  it  shines  within  the  Scriptures,  would  act  no  less 
presumptuously  than  Aaron  the  high-priest,  had  he 
attempted  without  his  brazen  censer  and  his  incense 
to  pass  the  veil  of  the  holy  of  holies,  and  stand  before 
the  mercy-seat.  "My  son,"  saith  the  Scripture,  "if 
thou  criest  after  knowledge,  and  liftest  up  thy  voice 
for  understanding;  if  thou  seekest  her  as  silver,  and 
searchest  for  her  as  for  hid  treasures ;  then  shalt  thou 
understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  find  the  know- 
ledge of  God." 

We  began  these  lectures  with  prayer  to  God  for 
his  Holy  Spirit  to  guide  our  way  and  help  our  infirm- 
ities, that  all  of  us  might  see  and  embrace  the  truth. 
We  recommended  prayer  as  one  of  the  chief  means  to 
be  used  by  all  who  would  study  the  evidences  of 
Christianity  in  a  right  spirit.     We  are  now  just  at 


526  M'lLVAINE'S  EVIDENCES. 

the  last  words  of  a  course  whicli,  we  trust,  God  has 
not  permitted  to  be  heard  by  you  without  precious 
benefit,  as  well  in  increasing  your  impression  of  the 
solemn  claims  of  the  gospel  upon  your  hearts  and 
lives,  as  in  strengthening  your  conviction  of  its  truth 
as  a  revelation  from  God  for  the  salvation  of  men. 
Take,  we  beseech  you,  the  holy  Scriptures,  wherein 
God  speaks  by  his  Spirit  to  every  generation,  as  your 
unfailing  guide,  your  most  dear  treasure,  the  appoint- 
ed means  by  which,  as  the  inspired  vehicle  of  God's 
truth,  it  is  his  revealed  purpose  to  carry  on,  through 
the  inworking  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  sanctification 
of  them  that  believe  in  the  name  of  his  only  Son  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

"Blessed  Lord,  who  hast  caused  all  holy  Scrip- 
tures to  be  written  for  our  learning,  grant  that  we 
may  in  such  wise  hear  them,  read,  mark,  learn,  and 
inwardly  digest  them,  that  by  patience,  and  comfort 
of  thy  holy  word,  we  may  embrace  and  ever  hold  fast 
the  blessed  hope  of  everlasting  life,  which  thou  hast 
given  us  in  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."     Amen. 


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